Familiar of Mine
by HeyAssButtImBatman
Summary: Sam and Dean Winchester, two powerful witches who try to use their power for good, are Bonded to the familiars Castiel and Gabriel Novak. But the Novaks have attracted the attention of the powerful witch Lucifer, and he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Can the four of them keep each other safe, stop a deranged witch and maybe find love in the process?
1. Chapter 1

Gabriel pumped his legs harder, putting on an extra burst of speed to catch up with his brother. He may have been older, but Castiel was much taller and walked faster than Gabriel without even trying. He huffed and ran a few steps to come up beside Cas.

"Hey, where are we going?" he asked, panting slightly. Cas smirked down at him for a moment and slowed down.

"I told you," he said, "we're going to a new witch's bar that just opened up. I heard it's great."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "You dragged me out of bed to go to a bar?"

"You weren't actually sleeping," Cas said.

"I was too!" Gabriel retorted.

"Gabe, sitting in the dark in a motel room with your face glued to your phone does not count as sleeping."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Gabriel said, stifling a yawn. It actually was pretty late. There were no people out and the only light came from the streetlights along the roads. Cas glanced down at his phone and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"It's a lot farther than I thought it would be," Cas said. "Maybe we should have taken the car."

Gabriel groaned. "Well, it's too late now. I just want to get out of the cold. Are we closer to the bar or the motel?"

"The bar," Cas told him. He tapped the screen of his phone a few times before smiling triumphantly. "I found a shortcut! If we cut through this alley and duck through a few parking lots, we'll get there in no time."

Gabriel looked at the small walkway between two buildings that they had stopped in front of. There were no lights in it, but from what Gabriel could see, there were lots of dumpsters. Every instinct screamed at him that this was a bad idea and he agreed.

"Cas, I don't know," he said. "Maybe we should stick to the main roads."

"Oh, relax, it'll be fine. There's no one crazy enough to be out here this late besides us."

"There's a reason for that," Gabriel mumbled to himself, but he followed his brother into the dark alley anyway. He stuck close to Castiel, peering into the darkness with wide eyes. He was extremely tense, sure that at any moment they would be jumped by some huge thug.

Nothing happened. They made it out of there alive, with nothing but a few bruises from running into stuff in the dark.

"See?" Cas laughed. "It's fine."

Gabriel let out a shaky breath and tried to calm his racing heart. "Yeah, I know, I'm good."

The two of them walked quickly, trying to reach the bar as soon as possible to get out of the chilly October air. When they finally made it to the bar, they practically ran inside. They walked down two flights of stairs and were patted down by a huge guard, and finally-Finally!-they were inside.

The bar itself was pretty big, still spacious even with the twenty something people there. Cas and Gabe walked up to the bar and grabbed two seats, looking around. Witches and familiars were scattered all throughout the bar, mingling and talking.

Gabe heard a bark and looked down. Sitting at his feet was a huge doberman. As he watched, it changed into a tall dark-skinned man with close-cropped black hair and dark eyes. He took the seat next to Gabriel and Cas leaned in, curious.

"Hello," the familiar said. "My name is Raphael. Are you new here?"

"Yup," Gabe said, popping the 'p' . "Me and my brother here are just passing through and thought we'd stop by." Raphael nodded in Cas' direction and Cas gave a little wave.

"Where are your masters?" Raphael questioned, looking around.

"We don't have any," Cas said. Raphael whipped his head around and stared intently at Cas.

"You two are Unbonded?" he said sharply.

"Yeah, why?" Gabe asked. He turned to the bartender, who had drifted over when he saw his two new customers. "A daiquiri for me and a green apple martini for him." The bartender nodded and Gabe looked back at Raphael. "Why is is such a big deal that we're Unbonded? I'm sure lots of familiars here are, too."

Raphael shook his head. "No Unbonded familiar dares to come here. You see that witch over there? The tall one one with the blonde hair? His name is Lucifer. He's the oldest and most powerful witch in the city. He's been looking for a familiar for years, but none have met his standards."

"Standards?" Gabe asked incredulously. He and Cas exchanged looks. "What happened to the ones he didn't approve of?"

"They all appeared dead the day after meeting Lucifer."

"He's been killing familiars?" Cas practically shouted and Raphael nodded gravely. "Why hasn't anyone done anything?"

"Everyone knows it's him, but no one can prove it. There are never any witnesses, and no one is brave enough to accuse him without solid proof. Anyway, if you two value your lives I would get out of here as soon as possible."

Gabe shot a meaningful look at Cas and the two of them nodded almost imperceptibly at each other, communicating wordlessly in a way that only siblings seemed to be able to do.

"Okay, we're leaving," Gabe said. He reached in his wallet and slapped down a few bills for the drinks. "Thanks for the warning, Raphael."

Raphael gave them a tight smile and transformed again, trotting over to a table crammed with witches. Gabe and Cas headed to the exit, walking briskly and trying to appear nonchalant.

"Hello," drawled a voice behind them and they froze, slowly turning around and coming face to face with none other than Lucifer. "I'm Lucifer."

"Uh," Gabriel started nervously. "I'm Gabriel and this is Castiel. It was really nice to meet you but we have to go." He grabbed Cas' arm and steered them back towards the exit, only to be frozen in place. He fought furiously against Lucifer's magic, but he was incredibly strong.

"That's rude," the witch said softly. "You haven't properly introduced yourselves. Witches or familiars?"

Gabriel's mind raced, trying to think of something he could say, but witches were great at picking up lies. "Familiars," he eventually ground out.

"How interesting." Lucifer walked around them until they were facing each other. "Who are your masters?"

Gabriel felt his heart sink. If what Raphael had said was true, then they were in serious trouble. He racked his brains for an answer, but thankfully he didn't have to.

"Hey, guys," said a new voice, and Gabe and Cas were unfrozen. They turned to see two witches walking towards them, each with a beer in his hand. "We didn't get to say goodbye." The one who had spoken was the shorter one, though he was by no means short. He was taller than Cas, and the other one was even taller.

"Uh, yeah," Gabriel said, playing along. "We have to get going."

"Okay, well it was nice to meet you two," the taller one said. Lucifer shot one last meaningful look at the familiars before stalking away towards the bar. Gabriel let out a breath.

"Thanks," he said. He looked up and locked eyes with the taller one. Something jolted within him the instant he did, making him gasp a little and step back in shock. The same thing had happened to the other man and Gabriel saw Cas and the shorter witch having a similar reaction to one another.

Gabe frowned. What the hell was that? He had never felt anything like that before, but it hadn't exactly been unpleasant. He looked back up at the witch.

"My name's Gabriel Novak," he said, "and this is my brother Castiel."

"I'm Sam Winchester," said the tall witch. "And my brother over there is Dean."

Gabriel looked right into Sam's hazel eyes with a small frown on his face. Something had happened and he was sure it had something to do with Sam. He shook his head and turned to Cas. It was probably nothing.

"Cas, let's go," he said. "We've got a lot of driving to do tomorrow." Cas reluctantly tore his gaze away from Dean and nodded to his brother. "Thanks again for the help with Lucifer."

"It was nothing," Dean said, staring at Cas. Well, that wasn't creepy at all. He gave the witches one last smile and practically dragged Castiel out of there in his haste to get away. He didn't relax until they were well away from the bar, but even then he still felt like someone was watching him.

"That was interesting," Cas said once they reached the alleyway.

"Interesting?" Gabe scoffed. "Sure, if interesting means almost killed by a psycho witch."

"Now, that's a little over dramatic, don't you think?" asked a familiar voice, and the familiars froze. Lucifer slowly melted out of the shadows in front of them, smiling. "I wouldn't kill you unless you failed the test."

"What test?" Gabriel asked, proud of himself for not letting his voice shake.

"The test to see if a familiar is the right one for me, of course. It's simple, really. I'm going to try to kill you, and if you can survive for five minutes, you'll have the privilege of being Bonded to me."

"What if we don't want to Bond with you?" Cas asked snarkily, and Gabriel resisted the urge to add an obnoxious "Yeah?" to the end of that question.

"Then you die," Lucifer said with a shrug. "Who wants to go first? How about you?" Lucifer pointed at Cas and Gabe felt his heart stop.

"No!" he shouted before he could stop himself. "Not him." Lucifer grins evilly at him and Gabriel felt fear course through him, followed by a small wave of urgency. Wait, what? Where had that come from?

"Very well," Lucifer said, snapping Gabe out of his thoughts. And before Gabriel had time to prepare himself, he attacked. Gabriel quickly sidestepped a ball of blue energy, feeling it singe a few hairs at it swept past.

He tried to channel the animal part of him but he couldn't reach it.

"You won't be able to change," Lucifer said. "Did I forget to mention that I'm blocking your power?" He throws another spell at Gabe and the familiar is too slow to dodge, getting hit right in the chest and slamming back into the brick wall behind him.

He can practically see the anger rolling off of Cas, but his brother is still frozen in place by Lucifer's magic. Gabriel got up shakily to his feet, one arm wrapped around his torso. He decided to go on the offense. After all, it is the best defense.

He waited until Lucifer was close enough to charge, tackling the witch to the ground and throwing a few good punches before being thrown off by an invisible force. Still, Lucifer was bleeding heavily from his nose and Gabriel can't help but feel a small surge of satisfaction.

"That was not what we agreed on," Lucifer said, wiping away the blood dripping down onto his lip.

"We didn't agree on anything," Gabriel snapped back. He tried once more to reach the part of him responsible for his transformations, but it was still locked down.

"Watch your tone," Lucifer said softly, and Gabriel can hear nothing but pure malice in his voice.

"Let us go," Gabriel retorted. "We don't want to be Bonded to you and you can't force us, you bastard."

Gabriel didn't get to say anything else as he suddenly found himself pinned to the wall, pressure slowly increasing around his throat. He gasped for breath, trying to free himself from the witch's power.

"I told you to watch your tone," Lucifer said, walking towards the defenseless familiar. "And when I tell you to do something," he lets a knife slip out of his sleeve and into his hand, "you do it."

He plunged the knife deep into Gabriel's stomach and the familiar can't even scream or gasp because Lucifer was still cutting off his air. He let Gabriel fall to the ground and leaned in close.

"Such a shame," he whispered into his ear. "I actually wanted you to win. You have such spirit, such potential. You would have made a great familiar. I guess I just have to hope that your brother can last longer than you did."

Gabriel felt another stab of fear for his brother, or maybe that was from the pain radiating out from his stomach. His vision started to go blurry and his eyelids got heavy. He watched helplessly and Lucifer sauntered over to his little brother, only to be thrown back by the same spell he'd used on Gabriel.

Castiel unfroze and ran over to him, and Gabriel could have sworn he was shouting although he couldn't hear anything over the sound of his own pounding heartbeat. Cas crouched in front of him and looked at something over his shoulder.

The next thing Gabriel knew, he was being lifted by a huge, dark shadow and cradled against a broad chest. He felt a sharp wave of fear, panic and determination, although none of those feelings are his. The last thing he hears before he blacks out is Sam's voice in his head.

 _It's okay, Gabriel you're going to be okay. I've gotcha._


	2. Chapter 2

Castiel fidgeted in the front seat of the Winchesters car, watching as Sam sat in the backseat with Gabriel practically in his lap. The witch was pressing his jacket on the wound in Gabriel's stomach, unable to heal it until they got to their house.

Next to Cas, Dean was driving as fast as he could while still being safe, obviously worried and eager to get home as soon as possible. Much as Castiel was worried about his brother, he couldn't help the fascination he felt towards the witch.

He thought he could feel faint traces of fear and curiosity in his mind, but he was positive that those emotions weren't his. Somehow, he knew it was Dean's presence in his mind. Was this what it was like to be Bonded?

He was drawn out of his thoughts when Sam cursed from the back.

"Dean, hurry!" he shouted. Castiel was pushed back in his seat a bit as they went even faster, reaching the house in only a few minutes. The three of them ran to the door, Sam clutching Gabriel to his chest.

Cas followed them to the basement of the house. It was filled with all the things one would expect a witch to have: altars, spell ingredients and strange symbols painted all over the place. Sam gently placed Gabriel down on a cot in the corner of the room and Dean started preparing a spell, throwing various herbs into a large stone bowl.

When it was ready, Dean placed the bowl in front of Sam and stepped back, pulling Cas with him. Sam sliced his palm open with a small dagger and let a few drops of blood fall into the bowl. He struck a match and said a chant, saying Gabriel's name a few times, before dropping the flame into the bowl. Bright flames roared up and Cas looked at Gabriel anxiously.

He didn't look any different, but Sam was grinning and Dean looked relieved, so Cas took that to mean that the spell had worked. Sam lifted Gabriel and walked upstairs, Dean and Cas trailing behind. The witch led them to what appeared to be a guest room and put Gabriel on the bed.

He closed the door softly and turned to Cas.

"He'll be fine after he gets some rest," he said.

"Thank you so much for helping us," Cas said, looking back and forth between both witches.

"It's no problem," Dean told him, "considering."

"Considering what?" Cas asked, confused. Sam and Dean shared looks and Cas felt a flicker of surprise tickle his consciousness.

"Well," Dean started, but Sam cut him off.

"Maybe we should wait for Gabriel to wake up so that we only have to explain it once." He shot Dean a meaningful look that was lost on Cas, but the familiar was too tired to care. The adrenaline was wearing off and Cas knew he would crash at any moment.

Dean must have seen this, for he gently grabbed Cas' elbow and led him to a different room. He didn't protest as Dean pulled off his shoes and jacket before tucking him into bed. He pushed his worry for his brother, the strange behaviour of the witches and all thoughts of Lucifer out of his mind and let himself drift off.

...oO()Oo…

The next morning, or afternoon, Cas was woken by Gabriel barging through his door and throwing himself dramatically onto Cas' bed. The older familiar wrapped himself around his brother and refused to let go.

"Good morning," Cas said after a failed attempt to get Gabriel off of him.

"It's two in the afternoon," Gabe answered promptly, still not letting go. "And I'm alive."

"I noticed." Cas' voice may have been sarcastic, but he was extremely relieved that his brother was alright. He managed to slip out of Gabe's hug and out of bed.

 _Morning, Sleeping Beauty._

Cas froze. He could have sworn that he just heard Dean's voice in his head, but that was impossible. Then again, if he hadn't thought that, then who had?

 _Sorry dude, I couldn't resist. Sam said that we should explain all this to you guys first so we don't freak you out, but I know you can handle it. Anyway, we're gonna go get some lunch so hurry up and come downstairs._

Cas slowly turned to Gabe and licked his lips nervously. Gabriel cocked a single brow, silently encouraging him to go on.

"Um, I think I may have...Bonded with Dean," he said nervously. Gabriel's eyebrows shot up.

"What makes you think that?' he asked.

"Well, sometimes I think I can feel his emotions, and I swear he talked to me in my head just now."

Gabriel looked thoughtful. "How do you know that's what Bonding is like?"

"Remember that familiar we met in Idaho?" Gabriel nodded. "Well, I talked to her and she told me that when you first start Bonding with a witch, the first thing to develop is the mental connection. She said that a witch and familiar will be able to hear each others' thoughts, and feel each others' emotions."

"Well, if that's true," Gabe said, "then I may or may not have Bonded to Sam."

Cas looked at him incredulously. This was way too weird.

 _Hey, are you guys coming' or what?_

Cas shook his head to clear it and turned back to the door.

"They're waiting for us," he said. "I guess we're going to lunch or something."

"Lead the way, Cassie," Gabriel said, following his brother downstairs. The two witches were waiting by the front door when the familiars descended the stairs. Cas' eyes were instantly drawn to Dean and he saw that the witch was staring right back at him.

The clearing of a throat made them look away, and Cas saw Gabe and Sam exchanging amused looks. Cas smirked when he saw how short his brother was in comparison to the witch.

 _He looks like a midget._

Dean's voice was filled with mirth and Cas laughed, causing Sam and Gabriel to look at him funny. He just shook his head in response to his brother's questioning gaze.

"So, shall we go?" Sam asked, heading to the door. The others filed out after him and pile into the car, Sam and Gabe in the backseat and Cas and Dean in the front. The drive to the diner was tense and quiet, no one daring to break the silence.

When they finally arrived and slid into a booth, all of them were feeling pretty awkward.

"So," Sam said, trying to relieve the tenseness. "We have some stuff to talk about."

Gabriel snorted. "Yeah, understatement. Alright, go ahead." He leaned back in his seat and indicated that they should start talking. Cas mimicked Gabe's position and looked at the witches. They seemed a little taken aback at Gabriel's abruptness and Cas had to hide a grin.

"Okay," Sam started. "So as you might know, Dean and Castiel have Bonded, as have Gabriel and I."

"I totally called that!" Gabriel exclaimed, leaning forward. "Didn't I call it, Cassie?"

Cas nodded seriously. "You did indeed call it."

Dean's eyebrows rose and Gabriel cleared his throat. "Sorry. Please continue."

"To complete the Bond," Dean said, "we have to do the thing, as you know."

Gabriel looked at Castiel curiously and Cas shrugged. He had no idea what they were talking about. "What thing?"

"The ritual thing," Sam said, furrowing his brow. "Didn't your parents teach you what would happen when you became Bonded?"

Castiel shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Our dad died when we were really young, and we never knew our mom."

"Oh, sorry," Dean said, and Cas could feel that he actually meant it. "What happened?"

"Hunters," Gabriel spat. "A hunter killed our mom and then tracked down our dad and killed him, too. They thought we were witches."

Cas leaned into Gabriel and his brother wrapped an arm around him, offering comfort.

"So, what about you guys?" Gabriel asked the witches after a moment. "Are you Borrowers, Naturals, or what?"

"We're Naturals," Sam said. "Both our parents were witches and they taught us everything we know about magic."

"What kind of magic do you guys do?" Cas asked, curious as to what kind of witches he and his brother found themselves bound to.

"White magic," Dean answered.

 _We don't use our power to kill people._

Cas gave him a small smile, which Dean returned. A young blonde waitress bounced up to the table, smiling widely at Sam and Dean.

"Hey, guys," she greeted.

"Hi, Jo," Sam and Dean said in unison.

"What can I getcha?" All four of them scanned the menu quickly while Jo patiently stood by the table.

"Can I have a Caesar salad and a Coke?" Sam finally asked.

"Sure thing, Sam. How 'bout you, Dean?"

"Bacon cheeseburger and a beer."

"No problem." She turned to Gabriel and Castiel. "What'll you boys have?"

"I'll take the grilled cheddar burger and water, thanks."

"Sure," Jo said, scribbling Cas' order down on her notepad. She looked at Gabriel. "How 'bout you?"

"Can I get a slice of double chocolate cake and an extra large strawberry milkshake?"

Jo nodded, smiled and left. Cas and the witches stared at Gabe, who shifted in his seat.

"What?" he asked defensively. "I like sugar."

Cas snorted and shook his head at his brother. Gabe flashed him a huge grin and turned back to Sam.

"So, anyway, what is this ritual that we gotta do?" he asked.

"Basically," Sam explained, "to Bind a witch and a familiar together, they have to touch."

"Touch?" Gabriel repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate?"

"That's literally all we have to do. The witch and familiar must touch, and a mark will appear where the contact happened that binds the two souls together."

"But you and Gabe have touched before," Cas pointed out, "and nothing happened."

"Well, yeah, because we weren't trying to Bond at the time. You have to actually want it for the Bond to happen."

Jo came by with their drinks and interrupted whatever Gabe was about to say.

"Here ya go, guys," she said, putting the glasses on the table. "Your food'll be out in a few minutes." She offered them bright smile as she left.

Gabriel took a sip of his milkshake. "So, what happens if we Bond?"

Sam looked taken aback at the question. "Uh, you come and live with us, I guess."

"And?" Cas asked. Dean looked confused.

"And what?"

"What else happens? Surely the point of Bonding goes beyond just offering companionship."

"Actually, that's exactly the point of Bonding," Sam said. "A familiar's purpose is to balance out the natural darkness in their witch."

"That's why there aren't that many white witches," Gabriel realized. "Because familiars are so rare that not many witches find that balance."

"Right," Sam said, looking a little surprised. "You guys are actually the first Unbonded familiars we've ever met, and we've been around for a while."

"Yeah, there are only eight familiars in the city, and all of them are Bonded. There used to be more, but Lucifer killed them." Dean's expression darkened when he mentioned Lucifer and Cas noticed Gabe's hand move to his stomach.

"On a less disturbing note," Sam interjected, "I think our food's here." Sure enough, they could see Jo headed towards their table with a huge tray balanced on her hand.

"Here we go," she said as she passed the food out. "Bacon cheeseburger for Dean, Caesar salad for Sam, grilled cheddar burger for Blue-Eyes and double chocolate cake for Mr. Gold."

She winked at them over her shoulder as she sauntered away and Gabe frowned at her retreating figure.

"Why'd she call me Mr. Gold?" he asked. Cas rolled his eyes.

"It's because of your hair and eyes, Gabe," he explained. Gabe made an 'oh' with his mouth and dug into his cake. Cas took a bite of his burger and looked at Dean.

 _So if we Bond, we move in with you guys?_

Cas sent the thought to Dean, interested to see if he actually could. Dean smiled at Cas and nodded.

 _Yup. Familiars always live with their masters._

 _Why?_

 _In the past, familiars have been targeted by their witch's enemies. It's not common, but not unheard of either. That was centuries ago, and since then it's become sort of a tradition for the familiar to live with the witch for protection._

 _Makes sense, I guess._

Dean chuckled and went back to his burger. They finished their meal in silence, the four of them thinking about the inevitable changes in their future. After they paid and left, Cas finally voiced a concern he had had since learning that he and Gabe would be living with the witches.

"Hey, Gabe?" he started. His brother looked up expectantly. "How will you transform here?"

Sam and Dean looked confused, but Gabriel instantly grasped what Cas meant and frowned.

"That might be a problem," he said.

"What might be a problem?" Sam asked. They reached the Impala and slid in, Cas once again claiming the front seat with Dean.

"Let's just say that my animal form is a hell of a lot more conspicuous that Cassie's is," Gabriel responded. "He can get away with traipsing all over town in animal form, but I have a feeling that if I tried, animal control would be called and that is not an experience I want to repeat.

Sam shot Gabe a questioning look and Gabriel smirked. Sam nodded and Cas guessed that they were communicating telepathically.

"What are your animal forms?" Dean asked, looking at Castiel.

"Dean, look at the road," Cas said. He refused to answer the question until Dean looked forward again and he felt Dean's amusement in his mind. "We're birds."

"What?" Sam piped in.

"Just what I said, we're birds."

"What kind of birds?"

Gabriel leaned forward in his seat. "I'd rather show you than tell you. Oh, and can you stop by our motel so we can grab our stuff?"

He gave Dean the name of the motel they had been staying at and looked at Castiel. His usual mask of cockiness and sarcasm was gone and Cas saw the real Gabriel, the Gabriel he only ever showed to Cas.

Cas saw excitement gleaming in his eyes and Cas could relate. They were extremely lucky to have found their witches this early in their lives, and even luckier to find witches that lived together so that they didn't have to be separated.

He watched Sam give Gabe a reassuring smile and realized something. Sam could feel Gabe's emotions and hear his thoughts. Cas was no longer the only one who would know the real Gabriel. He felt a tiny stab of jealousy, but quickly extinguished it.

He was extremely happy for his brother and himself. They'd still be together, it's not like he'd never get to spend time with his brother. With that reassuring thought in mind, Cas settled more comfortably in the worn leather seats. The animal part of his brain pushed forward a little and when he inhaled through his nose, he could smell a scent that was purely Dean. It was intoxicating.

Judging by Dean's tiny smirk, he knew exactly what Cas was thinking, but Castiel was surprised to find that he wasn't embarrassed about it. In fact, it sent happiness spiraling through every part of him. He had found his witch, a Natural white witch, no less.

He was happy, his brother was happy and life was good. Or so he thought.

 **For those of you who don't know, a Natural witch is a witch who genetically inherited a natural talent for magic. A Borrower is a witch who has sold his or her soul to a demon in return for magic powers. I got all this off of the Supernatural Wikipedia page, in case you guys want more information on it.**


	3. Chapter 3

It didn't take long for Gabriel and Castiel to pack up all their stuff and throw it into the trunk of the Impala. The ride back to the Winchesters' house wasn't nearly as awkward as the first trip had been, probably due to the fact that they were all communicating telepathically.

 _So, Samsquatch, will the mental connection be enhanced when we finish the Bond?_

Gabriel leaned against the door of the backseat, looking at Sam with his customary smirk on his face.

 _Yeah._

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. _Care to elaborate?_

 _Well, we'll be able to feel each others' emotions more vividly, hear each others' thoughts louder, have access to each others' memories, and be able to feel the physical sensations the other is feeling._

Gabriel grinned wickedly at that last one. _So if you were jacking off, I'd be able to feel it?_

Sam spluttered and turned bright red, the exact reaction Gabriel had been going for. He laughed and pounded on Sam's back when the witch started to choke, causing Dean and Cas to glance back in concern.

"Everything okay back there?" Dean asked, still looking backwards.

"Dean, the road," Cas chided. Dean looked forward and Cas threw Gabe a disapproving glare. "Gabe, what did you say to him?"

"Nothing!" Sam cut in, still the color of a tomato. "He said absolutely nothing." He, too, glared at Gabriel and the familiar laughed again. To anyone else, it would appear that Sam was angry with Gabriel, but the familiar could feel the amusement and affection tickling the back of his mind.

When they finally got back to the house, Gabe and Cas half carried, half dragged their suitcases upstairs to the rooms they had claimed as theirs. Gabriel looked around the room as he put his clothes into the closet.

It was a pretty big room with a queen-sized bed, chest of drawers with a large mirror on the wall on top of it, a bedside table with a tall lamp and Gabriel's personal favorite thing about the room, two huge windows big enough for his large animal form to fit through.

Once all his stuff was put away, he walked downstairs to search out Cas or Sam. He found the three of them in the backyard and joined them.

"What are we doing?" he asked, pulling a lollipop out of his jacket pocket and sticking it into his mouth.

"Cas is gonna show us his animal form," Dean said, never taking his eyes off of Gabe's brother. The two witches and Gabriel watched as Cas changed. It wasn't a very interesting process and took place in less time than it took to blink.

One minute Cas was standing in the middle of the yard wearing his usual tan trenchcoat, the next a sleek black raven was lifting itself off of the grass to settle on Dean's shoulder. He cawed and Dean laughed a little.

"It suits you," he said, and it really did. Cas black feathers were just as dark and soft as his hair was. Cas cawed again and ruffled his feathers. Everyone turned to Gabe expectantly and he blanched under their stares.

"What, my turn?" he asked.

"If you don't mind showing us," Sam said quickly and Gabriel waved him off. He handed Sam his lollipop to hold and focused his mind. By now the transformation had been done so many times that it was almost second nature.

He blinked and the ground was suddenly a lot closer than it had been before. He tilted his head up and shuffled his feet around. Sam looked down at him in awe and Gabriel ruffled his feathers self-consciously.

 _What are you?_

Sam's voice was filled with wonder and Gabe could see the same wide eyes on Dean's face. He flapped his wings a few times and landed on Sam's outstretched arm, too big to perch on any shoulders like Cas could.

 _I'm a golden eagle. Majestic, huh?_

Gabriel lifted one wing and ran his beak through the feathers on the underside, pulling a loose one out and dropping it to the ground. He carefully kept his talons around Sam's arm, aware that he could easily cause long-term damage in this form.

He looked over at Cas and tilted his head in a questioning manner. Cas cawed in response and took off from Dean's shoulder, soaring up into a tree to wait for Gabriel. The older familiar had trouble when it came to lifting off of something not high from the ground, but he managed.

Flapping his huge wings, he threw himself off of Sam's arm and rose lazily into the air to join his brother. The two of them didn't go too high or too far, aware of the danger Gabe was in while in his animal form. While golden eagles weren't rare, they mostly lived in Canada, Alaska and Eurasia. The last time he had flown around a suburban area, animal control had been called to ensure that he wouldn't snatch any kids. It had not been a pleasant experience.

Gabe let out a shrill cry and heard Cas' answering caw somewhere below him. He looked around and could still make out the tiny forms of Sam and Dean a mile or so away. His avian eyes could see much better than his human ones, and he could easily make out their expressions.

 _Flying looks amazing!_

Sam's voice had a wistful tone in it and Gabriel laughed in his head.

 _Then come and join me!_

He felt Sam's presence enter his mind and practically radiate delight at the feeling of the wind under his wing and running through his feathers. He and Cas flew a little farther away, doing flips and dives and spirals.

 _Gabe, you guys are getting a little far away. We can hardly see you._

 _Alright, we're coming back._

Gabe flapped his wings and flew in front of his brother, angling his wings so that Cas had to turn around to avoid a collision. Cas at once knew what Gabe wanted and started flying back to their witches.

They were only a few houses away when he heard a sharp crack followed by a searing pain in his left wing. He dropped instantly, flapping his right wing uselessly in an attempt to keep herself airborne.

 _Gabriel! I felt that, what happened? Are you hurt?_

 _Aaah! Yes! It hurts, Sam, and I can't use my wing!_

 _Okay, hold on! We're coming to get you._

Cas dived down and locked their feet together, flapping his wings furiously to try to slow Gabe's decent. It worked, and instead of going splat on the pavement, Gabe landed roughly in a backyard. He lay stunned for a moment, feeling the blood dripping from his wing in a steady stream.

Cas landed next to him and fluttered around anxiously. They heard pounding footsteps coming closer and froze, hoping that it was Sam and Dean. It wasn't. Three kids came rushing around the corner, heading straight for them.

Cas flew out of the way, hovering shakily above Gabriel. He cawed threateningly at the kids, but they weren't deterred. The oldest one raised a BB gun and aimed it at Cas. So that's what happened to his wing, a BB.

Gabe hauled himself to his feet and extended his wing. The BB had passed straight through, missing the hollow bones thankfully. He looked up and shrieked at his brother. The raven cawed back, but flew away and perched in a nearby tree, gaze never wavering off of Gabe.

The kid with the gun started forward cautiously and Gabe let the animal part of him take over in a final act of self preservation. He ruffled his feathers to make himself look bigger and raised one of his feet, exposing his wicked sharp talons.

The stupid kid didn't let that deter him and threw the gun at Gabe. He barely managed to jump out of the way, but in his panic didn't notice the kid sneaking up on him until he felt a huge weight land on top of him.

He flapped his good wing and thrashed around but the kid had a death grip on him. Gabriel felt fear well up in him and he panicked, remembering the incident with the animal control guy. The kid carried a struggling Gabriel over to the other two and held him out proudly.

"I can't believe we actually caught something!" he said excitedly. "We can keep it as a pet and train it to do tricks and stuff."

"Yeah!" said the only girl, eyes shining. "And I can dress it up and have tea parties with it!"

The kid forcefully yanked open his hurt wing and Gabriel squawked in pain. The kid stuck his finger through the small hole in the wing, nearly causing Gabriel to pass out from pain.

"He can't fly," said the other boy. "But that's okay, it means he can't escape."

 _Sam!_

 _Gabriel, hold on. We know where you are, we're almost there._

Sure enough, Gabriel saw Sam and Dean, the latter with a raven perched on his shoulder, stormed into the yard. The kids ran forward to meet them, obviously acquainted with the two witches. Gabriel wing jolted painfully with each step the kid took.

"Mr. Winchester!" The one holding Gabriel cried. "We caught a bird!" He caught sight of Cas on Dean's shoulder and smiled wider. "You have a bird, too! We can teach them tricks together!"

"No, we can't," Sam said angrily, fists clenched tight at his sides. Dean was mimicking his posture and glaring at all three of the kids.

"Why not?" the kid asked, oblivious to the fury rolling off of Sam in waves. Then again, Gabe was a bird of prey and very attuned to the smell of emotions.

"Because," Sam said, "that's my bird."

"No, it isn't," the kid said, holding Gabriel tight to his chest. "I found him hurt in my backyard. Finders keepers!"

"You didn't find him!" Sam allowed some of his anger to seep through into his voice. "You shot him! And you can't have him, he's mine."

"Oh yeah?" the kid spat. "Prove it!"

"Fine," Sam snapped. "Put him down and see who he comes to." The kids looked a little frightened at the thought that they might lose their new pet, but they obeyed. As soon as Gabriel was dropped unceremoniously on the ground, he half flew, half hopped onto Sam's outstretched arm.

Sam shot the kid a smug look and started to walk away.

"Wait!" the kids called. Sam turned around, annoyance written on his features.

"What?"

"Can we at least come visit him?"

"No."

"Why? We helped him."

"No, you shot him. You could have killed him, and I am having a serious talk with your mother about your stupid gun."

With that, the witches stomped angrily away. Gabriel was feeling a little faint from blood loss and he could hardly move his wing at all. Cas flew onto Sam's shoulder and peered down at Gabe. He gave a small caw and Gabriel cooed softly in response.

He closed his eyes and didn't open them until Sam set him down gently on the couch.

"Gabe, can you transform back? It'll make it a lot easier to heal the injury," Sam said. Gabriel closed his eyes and transformed into a human, and it didn't hurt any less when he didn't have wings. Sweat beaded at his brow and his breath came in short gasps.

He looked down and almost passed out. The wound had changed in proportion to his changed size, and there was now a hole the size of a quarter running straight through his upper arm. The wound was gushing blood and he felt lightheaded.

Sam and Dean prepared a healing spell and in a few minutes, Gabriel was completely healed. Cas changed as well and grabbed Gabe in a tight hug.

"Kids suck," he muttered. Gabriel laughed.

"Yeah, they do."

 _Are you sure you're okay?_

 _I'm fine, Sam. The spell worked._

 _Oh God, Gabe, that was the scariest thing to ever happen to me. When I felt your pain and saw you falling,, and there was nothing I could do…_

 _I know, Sam, it's okay. I'm okay._

Gabriel smiled reassuringly at Sam and reached out an arm. Sam took the invitation and hugged his other side, the one Cas wasn't clinging to. Gabriel smiled into Sam's jacket. He knew for a fact now that he wanted nothing more than to be Bonded to Sam.

 _I want to Bond with you, too, Gabe. More than anything._

 _Then let's do it. Let's do the thingy and Bind already._

Sam laughed at Gabriel's eagerness and held out a hand. Gabriel laid his hand flat against Sam's giant one. He focused on Sam, on the small Bond they already shared, the way his presence felt in Gabriel's mind, the affection he felt towards Sam, and Sam to him.

There was a sudden pain in his hand, but that was nothing compared to what was happening in his mind. He could feel the exact moment when their souls melded together, when Sam's memories flooded his mind and he couldn't tell what was him and what was the witch for a moment.

Then it cleared and he was back in his own head, though Sam's presence was even larger in his mind. He could feel all of the emotions Sam was feeling, he had access to every memory that the witch had. He was aware of Sam's hand still pressed to his, but at the same time, he was aware of _his_ hand pressed to Sam's.

"That was intense," Gabriel said, pulling his had away to study the mark. His hand was almost exactly the same as before, although he was missing the fingerprints on his fingers and the whole inside of the hand was a few shades darker, as if it had been burned.

He grabbed Sam's hand and studied it, noting how there was a burn on Sam's hand that was the exact shape and size of Gabe's hand. He noted with annoyance how small his hand was compared to Sam's.

Sam laughed. "Don't worry, Gabe, your hand isn't _that_ small." Gabriel scowled and bumped his shoulder against Sam's.

"What just happened?" Cas asked, looking at the mark on Sam's hand and then at Gabriel's burned palm.

"They Bonded," Dean said, "although they could have chosen a more original place to put their marks."

"Well, where would you put yours?" Sam asked in a childish tone.

Dean grinned. "I'll show you." He grabbed Cas' trenchcoat and pulled him close. He undid the buttons on Cas' shirt and placed his hand flat on Cas' chest, right above his heart. Cas simply placed his hand on Dean's shoulder.

As soon as Cas' hand touched Dean, their eyes went wide and their spines were completely straight. For a few seconds neither of them moved. Then they both gasped and blinked confusedly. They pulled their hands away from each other and Cas started buttoning up his shirt. There was a large handprint on his chest, right where Dean's hand had been.

"You were right, Gabe," he said. "That was intense."

Gabriel smiled and Cas smiled back. He felt Sam behind him and leaned on the witch's broad chest, the highest point Gabe could reach without standing on tiptoe. He felt complete, like a hole had been filled in him that he hadn't even known was there.

 _That's part of the Bond. Our souls have connected, literally become one soul._

 _This is super weird, I can see you looking at me and see myself looking at you through your eyes._

 _Yup. It'll be weird at first, but it'll get easier. It is your destiny to be Bonded to me, after all._

 _It was my what?_

 _A familiar only ever Bonds with one witch in their whole life. It's destiny._

 _Has a witch ever turned away a familiar?_

 _No way! Familiars are rare and extremely sought after. Only a witch with no soul would turn away his or her familiar. Not every witch gets a familiar, after all, and that's why me and Dean are incredibly lucky to have found you and Cas._

Gabriel smiled and watched Cas and Dean stare at each other, most likely having the same mental conversation that he and Sam had just had. He smirked when Cas caught himself staring at Dean and blushed a little.

This was going to be fun.


	4. Chapter 4

"We should go out to celebrate," Dean said, pointing his chopsticks at Sam. "After all, it's not everyday that we become Bonded."

Sam scoffed a laugh from his seat on the couch, his own carton of Chinese takeout in his hand. "Where would we go?" he asked.

"A bar, duh," Dean said. Cas chuckled and leaned back in his chair. He and Dean were sitting at the kitchen table and Sam was on the sofa in the next room. Gabriel had taken the Novak's car (Dean didn't let anyone drive the Impala) and gone to the store for some reason.

"Which bar?" Sam asked.

"Exactly," Dean replied with his mouth full of noodles.

"What? No, I meant which bar are we going to?"

"The witch bar, Sam," Dean said, giving Sam an exasperated sigh. "Ya know, the Wicked Witch?"

"But won't Lucifer be there?" Cas asked, feeling a small flash of fear at the thought of the powerful witch. Dean sent a relaxing touch through his mind, calming the familiar.

"He only goes after Unbonded familiars," Dean reassured. "You'll be completely safe with us."

"Alright then," Cas agreed. "After all, my week's not complete unless I go to a bar everyday."

He was being sarcastic but Dean winked at him anyway. "Exactly."

Cars laughed and finished the last of his fried rice. "Hey, Sam, could you ask Gabe when he's getting back?"

"Sure," Sam said. He closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch, sighing happily. After a while, he spoke without opening his eyes. "He said he's almost done and wants to know if you guys want anything."

"No, thanks," Dean said, speaking for himself and Castiel. After they cleaned up they were all lounging around the living room, waiting for Gabriel to get home so that they could go out and do something.

Not ten minutes later, Gabriel walked through the front door with five grocery bags in his hand. He ignored the three people on the couch and headed straight for the kitchen. Cars got up and followed interestedly, well aware that Gabriel alway came back from the store with something sugary.

Sure enough, when Castiel looked in the first bag, he wasn't that surprised to find it filled with huge bags of candy. The witches came in and the three of them watched with raised eyebrows as Gabriel found a few large glass containers and emptied the bags into them.

When he was done, there were four huge jars lining the counter, each with an assortment of candy inside. Gabriel reached into one and pulled out a mini chocolate bar, turning back to the others with a "Ta-da!"

"What the hell, dude?" Dean asked. "Are you trying to get diabetes?"

Gabriel scoffed. "Please," he said, waving a hand dismissively. "You guys only have beer and salad, I needed something to ensure I didn't die of sugar withdrawal. This should last me at least a month."

"A month?" Sam raised his eyebrows. "How much candy do you eat?"

"A lot," Cas said, used to his brother's sugar obsession.

 _Has he always eaten this much candy?_

 _Yup, ever since I can remember._

 _How has he not died or gotten fat yet?_

 _He eats pretty healthy, actually. He just eats a shit ton of candy, too._

Dean snorted and Cas smiled.

"So, are we gonna go?" Sam asked, gesturing to the front door.

"Go where?" Gabriel asked, lollipop in mouth.

"We're gonna go the the Wicked Witch," Dean said, grabbing his wallet and keys off the counter.

"The place where we met that crazy ass witch who stabbed me?"

"Yup."

"Cool."

The four of them piled into the Impala and they were off, making it to the bar in less than half the time that it had taken Gabriel and Castiel to walk there the previous night. They walked down the stairs and were once more patted down by the hulk of a guard and entered the lounge.

Cas kept casting nervous glances around the room, keeping an eye out for Lucifer. Dean's presence in his mind and the constant reassurances he sent the familiar helped, but it wasn't enough to completely destroy the feeling Cas had that something bad was going to happen.

He sat on the barstool in between Dean and Gabriel, accepting the beer Dean had ordered for him. He looked around again, making sure that everything was fine. Gabriel was flirting with a pretty familiar while Sam looked on sullenly.

None of the witches lounging around the room were Lucifer and no one seemed to notice or care about the familiars, so he finally let himself relax and enjoy his night out.

"Hello again, Castiel," a familiar voice said and Cas turned around to find Raphael standing there with an empty shot glass in his hand.

"Hello, Raphael," Cas said, smiling slightly.

"I see you have not heeded my warning about Lucifer." Raphael flicked his gaze to Gabriel and Sam, then Dean, who was listening in on the conversation with interest, and back to Castiel.

"Oh no, we did," Cas said quickly. "We left as soon as you told us about Lucifer. But we had a little run-in with him outside the bar and he almost killed my brother. But luckily, Sam and Dean here saved us."

"I'm glad that you are alright, but why are you still here? Luifer never leaves survivors, ever. If you aren't his familiar, he'll be after you, and your brother, too."

Cas chilled at his words and Dean wrapped his arm around Cas' shoulders, sending a defiant glare to Raphael.

"Lucifer won't get anywhere near them," Dean said confidently. "No one touches my familiar."

Raphael raised a single eyebrow and looked at Cas. "You have Bonded." It wasn't a question. He looked over to where Sam and Gabriel were sitting, laughing their asses off at something Gabriel had said. "And so have they. This is why you stayed."

Castiel nodded and took a long swig of his beer. Raphael looked at them thoughtfully for a moment before speaking again.

"Lucifer will not stop until you are dead. While you are alive, you can go to the ruling coven and have him exiled or killed."

Cas exchanged a look with Dean.

 _We should have him executed. He's a threat to every familiar who comes through the city._

 _Dean, we can't just accuse one of the oldest witches in the city of attempted murder._

 _Why not? We're witnesses, we saw it happen. He attacked you!_

 _Yes, but do you think the ruling coven will believe two familiars who just came to town yesterday over an old and respected witch who will most likely have a lie ready for such an occasion?_

Dean scowled and finished the last of his beer. Cas sighed and looked over at Gabriel. The familiar hadn't heard a word of his conversation with Raphael, and Cas wanted to keep it that way. His older brother deserved to be stress-free for however long his ignorance towards the Lucifer situation would last.

Apparently, it wasn't meant to last more than a few seconds because Lucifer chose that moment to walk into the bar. Gabriel stiffened almost imperceptibly and shot a glance at Castiel. The two witches and their familiars watched as Lucifer walked over to one of the booths and sat down. The bartender grabbed a bottle and a shot glass and left them on the table; obviously Lucifer came here often and the bartender already knew what he would want.

Cas sipped at his beer and tried to ignore Lucifer, choosing instead to watch the other people in the bar. He could see many witches and a few familiars milling around, talking and laughing happily. Gabriel scooted his chair closer to Cas' and sipped at his drink.

"Is it just me or is he staring at us?" he whispered. Cas whipped his head around and saw that Gabriel was right. Lucifer wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was glaring at them with hate in his eyes. He got up and started walking towards them and Cas felt Gabriel tense beside him. "Here comes trouble with a capital 't'."

Dean and Sam moved closer to the familiars and watched with narrowed eyes as Lucifer finally came to a stop in front of them. He gave them a tight smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I see you survived," he said to Gabriel. If looks could kill then Lucifer would be dead on the floor from the glare Gabe was sending him. "It seems I had underestimated your strength. I am still in need of a familiar, Gabriel." He stretched the name out with a small smile on his face.

"He's already Bonded," Sam said angrily, drawing Lucifer's attention to him for the first time. Lucifer's eyes grew stormy with rage and he looked at Cas and Dean.

"And I suppose you two have Bonded as well," he sneered. Dean wrapped an arm protectively around Castiel and narrowed his eyes in challenge at Lucifer. The witch's expression remained neutral but Cas and Gabe could smell the rage coming off of him in waves. "Well, congratulations. I guess you weren't to be my familiar after all."

He turned to leave and Cas relaxed slightly. He watched Lucifer sit back down at his booth and lean back in the seat, eyes still on the four at the bar. He said something, but Cas was too far away to make it out. And then suddenly there was pain, terrible burning pain everywhere.

He gasped and clutched tight to his middle, barely aware that the same thing was happening to Gabriel. He felt something in him shift and the pain stopped, but something was wrong. He frowned, or at least he would have if he had still been human. Because for some reason, he was in his animal form and he couldn't change back.

His feathers ruffled in distress and he glared over at Lucifer. The witch was smirking as he poured himself a drink. With his enhanced hearing, Cas could make out the words "This is nothing compared to what I have in store for you."

 _Cas, what the hell, man?_

 _Lucifer is keeping us trapped in our animal forms. I'm pretty sure he's planning some type of revenge._

 _So you can't change back?_

 _No._

 _Awesome._

Cars fluttered up and perched on Dean's shoulder. The witch was watching Gabe and Sam. Gabriel was in his eagle form and sitting on Sam's arm. they were obviously talking telepathically. Sam looked up after a few moments.

"Lucifer's keeping them trapped like this," he said.

"I know, Cas told me," Dean replied. "I just don't get how he could do this."

"A spell, maybe?"

"Yeah, but what kind of spell is powerful enough to prevent a familiar from changing?"

 _Dean, can we go? There's a dog over there staring at me like I'm food._

Dean looked around and noticed for the first time that lots of the witches and familiars in the bar were staring at them curiously. They hadn't realized how much attention they had gotten after being confronted by Lucifer and then transforming for seemingly no reason.

"Sam, let's get out of here," he said. Sam looked around and noticed the same thing that Dean had. He nodded and they left, practically running on their haste to get out. It was a little tricky when they finally got to the car. Cas and Gabe's animal instincts wouldn't let them get into the small enclosed space. Eventually Sam and Dean got in and drove off and the two familiars flew home.

Cars looked over at his brother. Gabriel was scanning the ground intently as he flew, looking out for any danger. Cas knew that he wasn't eager to repeat the experience with the kids and the BB gun. But he couldn't help but compare himself to his brother.

Castiel would never admit it, but he had always been jealous of his brother's form. Castiel always felt so plain next to his brother while birds. He was just a raven, something extremely common and simple. Gabriel was a golden eagle, a very beautiful bird.

He was a kaleidoscope of gold, brown and white. He had huge wings and sharp gold eyes, and Cas couldn't help but feel like the ugly duckling of the two of them. He was struck with another thought. He put a shield up in his mind (he didn't want Dean hearing these thoughts) and flew closer to his brother.

"Gabriel?" he cawed. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did," Gabriel screeched back.

"Gabe, this is serious."

Gabriel looked down and saw how agitated his brother was. He tilted his wing and banked over to a streetlight. Cars followed and landed next to him.

"What's up, Cassie?" Gabriel asked.

"You have to promise not to tell Sam."

Gabriel tilted his head in confusion but nodded.

"You know how our animal forms are a reflection of our souls?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I was wondering...what does it mean about my soul that my animal form is so plain?"

Gabriel scooted closer and unwrapped one wing, letting it fall around Cas.

"Oh, Cassie," he cooed softly. "That's what you're worried about? Your animal form is anything but plain."

"But your eagle is so beautiful, and I'm just a raven." Cas let his head drop towards his chest (or was it breast since he was a bird?).

"Castiel, follow me," Gabriel commanded, unfurling his huge wings and lifting off of the pole. Cas followed, unsure of where Gabriel was taking him.

 _Are you okay, Cas? You should have been home by now and you've been blocking your emotions and thoughts._

Castiel was careful to keep the shield in place as he responded.

 _I'm fine, Dean. We'll be back in a bit, we just have some stuff to talk about._

 _Alright, just be careful._

Cas felt Dean's concern and affection wash over him and were he human, he would have smiled. He and Gabriel had only known the Winchesters for two days, and already he felt a very large amount of affection for the witch. He assumed it was because their souls melded together. He was almost certain it was love, platonic of course as familiars weren't supposed to be romantically involved with their masters.

"Cas, come here." Gabriel voice cut through his thoughts and he flapped his wings to bring him to where Gabriel was perched in a tree in front of a small shop. "Look at your reflection. What do you see?"

Cas looked at his reflection and thought. What did he see?

"I see black feathers, black eyes and a black beak. I see a raven."

"You want to know what I see?" Gabriel nudged him so that he was forced to hop back a little and something in his reflection caught his eye. "I see a graceful bird the color of the night sky who holds the colors of the universe in his feathers."

Cas flapped his wings without letting go of the branch and his breath caught. Gabriel was right. His black feathers were so glossy that when he moved while in the light, you could see different shades of green and blue rippling across them.

"I see," Gabriel continued, "a soul with hidden potential, who just needed a little nudge in the right direction to realise it. There's nothing wrong with your animal form or your soul, Castiel. Your raven is a reflection of you and it's perfect exactly the way it is."

Castiel took one last look at his reflection before taking off from the branch, Gabriel following not far behind. Gabe was right. Even if Cas' animal form wasn't as powerful or regal as Gabriel's, it was perfect for him.

Cas let out a happy caw as he flew, letting the barrier in his mind drop. He knew that Dean was probably wondering what had made him so happy, but if the witch wanted to find out, he'd have to look through Cas' memories. Right now, Cas wanted to enjoy his flight with his brother.


	5. Chapter 5

_Gabe, wake up._

Sam's voice in his head woke the familiar up very early the next morning.

 _It's twelve thirty, Gabe. That's not early._

 _It's early to me._

Gabriel stretched his wings and flew off of the headboard of Sam's bed where he had fallen asleep last night. He somehow managed to fit his wingspan into the staircase and flew downstairs to the basement.

Sam, Dean and Cas were already there, each of the witches with a client. The familiars had figured out relatively quickly that Sam and Dean used their magic to help people; healing wounds and ailments, reversing balding or even just giving someone an extra boost of luck. It was their only source of income, and they made more than enough to sustain all four of them, even with all of the other witches in the city doing the same.

Cas was once more perched on Dean's shoulder, head resting under his wing. _Lucky bastard,_ Gabriel thought. He was too big to sit on any shoulders and Sam needed his arms to perform spells, so he chose the next best thing.

He flew up to the ceiling and found what he was looking for: a perch he had installed yesterday with a little help from Cas. He settled down and watched with boredom as Sam and Dean continued working. He must have fallen asleep again because the next thing he knew, Cas was nudging him awake.

He pulled his head out from under his wing and looked around. Sam was with another client and Dean was heading up the stairs. Cas gave him a small caw and flew after Dean, expecting Gabriel to follow. He looked at Sam again and the witch held out an arm, an invitation that the familiar eagerly accepted.

 _Dean found a spell that can make you invisible for a bit it you and Cas want to go out._

Gabriel ruffled his feathers and flapped his wings once, freaking out the poor old lady sitting on the cushion across from them.

 _Cool. Will you be okay by yourself down here?_

Gabriel felt a wave of affection from Sam when he asked.

 _I'll be fine, Gabriel. I know you've been cooped up all day and you're bored._

 _Okay, then. See you later, Samsquatch._

He brushed his wing affectionately on the top of Sam's head as he flew out of the basement and snickered to himself at Sam's brief flash of annoyance. Sam hated it when people messed with his hair.

When he finally made it outside, he found Cas and Dean waiting in the backyard, bathed in the orange glow of the setting sun. Wow, he really had been cooped up all day. He'd been asleep for a solid six or seven hours after being woken up by Sam.

"Hey, Gabe," Dean greeted, letting Gabriel perch on his arm. "So this spell will last two hours before it wears off. Try to get back before then, okay?" Both birds blinked in affirmation and he began chanting in Latin. " _Sanguine imperium penes me genitoribus nudo oculo apparet Haec duo."_

Gabriel felt a strange tingling rush over him from his feet to his head and looked down. He could still see himself, and Cas. Maybe the spell was faulty?

"You guys can see yourselves and each other because you have heightened senses," Dean explained, obviously aware of their confusion thanks to Cas. "Humans won't be able to see you."

Flapping his wings happily, Gabriel launched himself off of Dean's arm and soared high up into the darkening sky. He gently pushed his way into Sam's mind, letting him feel all the joy Gabe felt when he flew.

He and Cas flapped their wings and flew higher, soaring leisurely above the city. They watched the sun set and the tiny lights flicker to life below them, enjoying the flight even though they were trapped in their animal forms. They made it to the edge of the city and perched on a tall fence by the highway.

The sun had already gone down but the spell was still holding up, so they figured they had enough time to get back. Cas scooted closer to Gabe when a breeze blew, seeking warmth from his larger body. Gabriel always thought it ironic how small he was compared to Cas in their human forms, but as birds he was considered the giant of the two.

 _Dean found something that can counteract Lucifer's spell._

Sam's voice sounded excited, but also tired and a little defeated. Gabriel didn't dwell on it, knowing that Sam would tell him if something were wrong. He fluffed his feathers out to keep out the cold and nudged Cas. He flew off of the fence and screeched back at his brother, telling him to follow. Cas flapped his wings and lifted himself into the air beside Gabriel and the two of them headed home.

 _Great! What'll we need to do?_

 _That's where it gets a bit complicated. There's something we need for the spell…_

 _What is it, Samsquatch?_

 _It's, uh…_

Gabriel rolled his eyes. Patience was never his strong suit. He delved into Sam's memories, looking through all that had happened to the witch in the past hour and a half until he found what he was looking for.

 _Sam looked at the list of ingredients again, then up at Dean. The witches had just finished with their last client for the day and were looking for anything on the spell Lucifer had used on the familiars._

" _That last ingredient will be pretty hard to get, Dean," Sam said, setting the book down and looking through his storage of herbs for the things they'd need._

" _I know," Dean replied. "It'll be damn near impossible. But not completely."_

" _How are we supposed to get some of Lucifer's blood?" Sam grabbed the last thing he needed- a sprig of lavender- and dropped them onto his table._

" _I got no clue. Maybe we can knock him out."_

" _No good, he's probably warded against spells and poisons like that."_

" _Can we hold him down and draw blood?"_

 _Sam gave him an exasperated look. "Dean, don't be ridiculous."_

" _Well, then what else are we supposed to do?" Dean threw his hands up in frustration and started pacing around the room. "We can't leave Cas and Gabe as birds for the rest of their lives. I mean, yeah, technically they'd be fine as birds until they die, but I can feel how much Cas wants to be able to control his transformations, and I know Gabe does, too!"_

" _Dean, I totally agree," Sam said, sitting down heavily in a chair. "I want this spell gone as much as you do, I just don't see how we can get Lucifer's blood."_

 _The two of them sat in silence for a bit before Sam remembered that the invisibility spell on the familiars only lasted two hours. Sam opened up the connection he had been blocking and instantly felt the happiness from his familiar._

Dean found something that can counteract Lucifer's spell.

Gabriel broke out of the memory and realized that he and Cas had already made it back to the Winchesters' house. He watched Cas descend carefully and had a sudden urge to try something he'd never done before. His feathers fluffed out in anticipation.

 _This should be fun._

Whoops. He forgot that Sam could hear his thoughts.

 _Gabe, what are you going to do?_

 _See for yourself, Moose._

He felt Sam enter his consciousness and felt a flash of giddiness. He tucked his wings close to his body and went into a steep dive, gravity pulling him faster and faster towards the ground.

 _Gabriel!_

Sam's voice was filled with terror and Gabriel would have laughed had he been human. Just as he was about to turn into a familiar pancake on the grass of the backyard, he snapped open his wings and let air fill them, slowing him down enough for him to land unharmed on his feet.

 _Wasn't that fun? We should totally do that again sometime._

 _No, Gabe, that was not fun!_

Gabriel watched as Sam and Dean calmly walked out into the backyard. Well, Dean walked calmly, Sam stormed out looking extremely pissed off. He looked around wildly for a moment and Gabe realized that the invisibility spell was still in effect. No sooner had he thought that then the spell wore off, melting off of his feathers like oil.

As soon as he was visible again, Sam angrily strode over to him and picked him up. Gabriel flapped his wings indignantly until he was in a comfortable position on Sam's outstretched arm. He waited impatiently for Dean and Cas to go inside before turning the full force of his glare on Gabriel.

"You could have died," he snapped.

 _No way. You forget that I've been flying my whole life._

"That's no excuse to be trying crazy experimental stunts in the backyard while invisible."

Gabriel could feel Sam's worry and hear his heart beating faster than normal from fear- fear that Gabriel had caused. At that realization, his feathers wilted, much as he tried to prevent them from doing so, but it was a reaction he had to any negative emotion that he had never been able to control.

 _I'm sorry for scaring you, Sam. I won't do it again, I promise._

Sam's eyes softened and he sighed, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"I forgive you. But try not to do anything super dangerous, okay? If something happened to you, I don't know what I'd do."

Gabriel hopped farther up Sam's arm and nuzzled his face into Sam's neck, offering comfort in the only way he could as a bird. Sam chuckled and stroked his back.

"Let's head inside," he said. "We have to figure out something to do about Lucifer's spell."

...oO()Oo…

 _I have an idea, but you might not like it._

Gabriel let Sam prod around in his head for his idea and waited for the inevitable outburst he knew would come. Predictably, the witch's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open for a second.

"Sammy, what's-" Dean started, noticing Sam's obvious distress, but he was cut off as Sam suddenly shot up out of his seat.

"Are you out of your mind?" he shouted at Gabriel. The familiar didn't even flinch, matching Sam's angry glare with one of his own. It was pretty easy to intimidate people in this form. Even when he wasn't trying to look angry he was glaring and he was big enough to kill a horse if he wanted to. "That is the worst plan I have ever heard!"

Dean brightened a little and Cas pulled his head out from under his wing.

"Gabe has a plan?" Dean asked hopefully.

"A stupid-ass plan," Sam shot back. Gabriel's feathers puffed up in anger and his eyes narrowed.

 _At least I had an idea! Do we have any other choice?_

"Of course we have other choices!" Sam shouted, ignoring Dean and Cas. "We could choose to not do your plan and find some other way to reverse this."

 _But what if there's no other way? I'm tired of being a freaking eagle, Sam! I'm tired of not being able to speak or sleep on a real bed. I want to be able to control my transformations and I can't do that with Lucifer's spell on me! At least tell them my idea and see if they agree._

His voice had gone a bit desperate at the end of his little speech and his feathers went back to their normal state.

"Fine," Sam snapped, turning to the other witch and familiar. "Gabe had this completely absurd idea that he could get a sample of Lucifer's blood by attacking him."

Dean looked thoughtfully at Gabriel for a moment, specifically his talons, and turned back to Sam.

"I don't know, man," he said. "I think Gabriel's pretty capable of drawing blood. It could work." Cas fluttered a little on the back of the chair he was perched on and Dean squinted his eyes a little. "That's a good point, Cas. How would he get enough blood for the spell and what would he carry it in?"

 _Tell them I can use a bowl or a bucket or something._

 _Absolutely not. This plan is ridiculous, Gabe. You could get hurt, or worse. We literally just had a talk about this an hour ago._

 _Sam, please. What would you do if you were me? I don't want to be an eagle for the rest of my life, awesome as my animal form is._

Sam simply crossed his arms and turned his back to Gabe. The familiar tried to hide his hurt but that was kind of hard when you were mind melded to a witch. The worst part was that Sam could feel his pain and didn't even turn around.

Gabriel's feathers wilted once more and he had to stifle a cry of grief. He was a Bonded familiar, dammit! It hurt when your witch didn't care enough to even apologise for hurting you.

 _Gabe, I care. That's why I won't let you attack Lucifer, you'd get killed. I'm just looking out for you._

Sam sat back down on the couch and returned to the book he was reading. He closed the Bond between them, not allowing Gabriel to even try to convince him to reconsider. He felt his heart break a little and had he been human he would have been crying, big time.

He hopped off the coat rack he had perched on and flew to the open back door. He ignored Dean's call and Cas' worried caw, flying up and out into the night sky. He found a large tree in a nearby park and landed on a branch hidden from the ground.

Gabe felt trapped, like he was being suffocated and had no way out. He could feel his anguish filling him up, but it had no outlet. He couldn't cry, couldn't 'talk' to Sam, couldn't even talk out loud to his brother.

And that's what hurt the most, that Sam knew he couldn't communicate to anyone but him and he took that last bit of his humanity away from him. He was desperately glad that he wasn't human right then, otherwise he'd be sobbing like a complete wreck. But that's the reason he was in this situation in the first place, was because he couldn't change back to his human form.

He tried to break through Sam's wall, desperate for comfort from the one he loved most- for he found that he did love Sam as much as he loved Cas, if not more- but the witch was putting everything he had into keeping the shield up.

It was all a little too much for Gabriel and he let out a huge screech to try to relieve the pain, not caring that he had probably attracted every predator in the city. He closed his eyes and let his feathers droop, not caring about keeping up appearances anymore. He didn't know how long he sat there, stewing silently in his own sadness and pain, but it felt like hours later when Cas finally found him.

The raven fluttered up next to Gabriel and landed on the branch, hopping closer until he could brush their wings together. Gabe opened his eyes and looked at his little brother.

"Gabe, what did he say?" Cas asked softly.

"He told me that my plan was stupid and wouldn't even let me try it," he explained, feeling like a child.

"It _was_ a stupid plan and I don't think it would have worked."

"That's not the point, Cas. He hurt me, refused to apologize and then shut me out. I mean, he knows what this is doing to me, but he doesn't care and it hurts." Cas scooted closer and pressed his side to Gabriel's.

"Dean's talking to Sam," he said. "Sam freaked out when you flew away. He told me to find you. I thought he just wanted someone to go out and find you in case you ran into trouble or something, but now I understand. Is your Bond still closed?"

Gabriel nodded. He closed his eyes again and tucked his head under his wing, intending to spend the night in the tree. He could feel Cas do the same beside him.

"Shouldn't you go back?" he asked. "Dean'll be worried."

"I already told him what's going on," Cas explained. "He's pretty mad at Sam and he thought it would be best if we lay low for the night."

Gabriel felt a rush of gratitude towards the older Winchester. He tucked his head down and closed his eyes, falling into a fitful sleep.

...oO()Oo…

When he woke up the next morning, the thing he noticed was that his Bond with Sam was open again. Cas was still asleep next to him and the sun was just barely in the sky. He tentatively poked at the connection.

 _Sam?_

He could feel Sam's relief wash over him, along with shame and remorse.

 _Gabriel! Oh God, Gabe, I am so sorry for hurting you and shutting you out. It was stupid and childish of me and you have every right to be angry._

 _I'm not mad, Sam. Just hurt._

He could feel the shame and remorse intensify.

 _I know, and I'm sorry. I never should have done that to you. I love you, Gabe, and I can't believe I hurt you like this._

 _I love you, too, Samsquatch. And you're forgiven. I know why you did what you did, just please don't do it again. I don't think I could handle it._

 _Of course, I swear it'll never happen again. Now, please come home. We still have to figure out what to do about Lucifer._

Gabriel nudged Cas awake and the two of them headed back to the house. Sam was waiting outside for them when they got there and Gabriel nuzzled up to him as soon as he landed on Sam's arm. The three of them went inside where they found Dean sitting on the couch with about fifteen books open around him.

"So, we haven't found anything yet," Sam said as he joined his brother. Cas flew onto Dean's shoulder and Gabe stayed on Sam's arm. "But we still haven't looked through all of the books yet."

 _Sam…_

Gabriel's voice was soft and hesitant, almost as if he was afraid. He felt a surge of anger from Sam and he jumped back a little.

 _No, I'm not mad at you, Gabe. I'm mad at myself for making you afraid to talk to me._

 _Oh. I just don't want you to get angry with me again._

 _Gabriel Novak, I swore that I would never shut you out again and I meant it. Now what did you want to say?_

 _It's just… if we don't find anything in the books, what will we do? I don't want to be a bird for the rest of my life._

 _I know, Gabe. Don't worry, we'll find something._

"Hey, Sam," Dean said, looking up from his book. "Me and Cas were just talking and we were thinking, if we don't find anything other than the counterspell, we'll have to use Gabe's idea."

Sam looked at Dean like he was crazy, then at Gabe and his gaze softened. He sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I know," he said. Dean's eyebrows rose in surprise. "But only as a last resort, okay? I don't want him endangering himself unless absolutely necessary."

"Deal," Dean said. He winked at Gabe when Sam's back was turned and the familiar ruffled his feathers happily. He nudged a book open and began to read. They had a lot of homework to do.


	6. Chapter 6

After another whole day of searching through books, looking up spells online and asking other witches, the Winchesters and their familiars were forced to accept the fact that there was no other way to reverse the spell. So, much as Sam didn't like it, they agreed to let Gabe attack Lucifer and get a blood sample.

"What if Lucifer hits him with a spell or something?" Sam asked Dean. The two of them were sitting on the couch in the living room, Cas sitting on the mantle above the fireplace. Gabriel was asleep upstairs.

"Yeah, I don't think he'd be able to dodge and carry a bucket of blood at the same time," Dean mused, running his hand through his hair.

 _Any ideas, Cas?_

Cas felt the glow of pride that he felt every time Dean asked his advice for something.

 _Well, I could go with Gabriel and distract Lucifer while Gabriel gets away._

 _Then who would protect you from Lucifer?_

 _You could use that invisibility spell that you used on us yesterday. Lucifer would be too busy trying to fend me off to target Gabe and he won't be able to attack what he can't see, so I'd be safe, too._

 _Good idea._

"Cas has an idea," he told Sam. The witch raised his head and looked at Dean with tired eyes.

"What is it?" he asked.

"What if we sent them both? They'd be under an invisibility spell so Lucifer wouldn't be able to see them, and Cas could distract him long enough for Gabe to get away."

Sam looked thoughtful. "It's the best idea we've had so far. And they'll be safer together than they would be alone."

"Right. So, tomorrow night?"

Sam nodded. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, getting up and going to the stairs. He called a quick goodnight before walking up to the room he and Gabe shared.

"It's pretty late," Dean said. "We should go to bed." Cas flew onto his outstretched arm and let Dean carry him up to their room. He settled onto the perch Dean had bought for him from PetCo and waited for Dean to slip into his bed before closing his eyes. "'Night, Cas."

 _Goodnight, Dean._

...oO()Oo…

The next morning, Gabriel was already awake when Cas and Dean went downstairs. Usually the two of them got up first, followed by Sam and then Gabriel, so Cas couldn't think of any reason why Gabe would be up so early.

He joined his brother on the coat rack and the two of them watched Dean bustle around the kitchen, making breakfast.

"Why are you up so early?" Cas asked by way of greeting.

"I don't know," Gabe answered. "I just woke up an hour or two ago and couldn't go back to sleep."

"That's weird."

"Very."

Dean looked over and narrowed his eyes at the two of them.

"Are you two talking to each other or are you just making noise to annoy me?" he asked.

"Who pissed in his Lucky Charms?" Gabriel asked, a little louder than was appropriate. Dean pointed his spatula threateningly at the eagle and Cas was sure that Gabe would have been smirking if he had been human.

"Gabriel, please don't purposefully annoy Dean," Cas said exasperatedly.

"It's so much fun, though," was Gabe's reply. The two of them sat side by side, watching Dean prance around the kitchen cooking food, singing terribly the whole time. Thankfully, they were saved from an encore performance when Sam stumbled down the stairs, yawning and running a hand through his hair.

He froze at the sight of Gabriel and the two of them stared at each other for a few moments, having what Cas assumed to be a conversation in their heads. Sam nodded and moved away, sitting down at the table and waiting for Dean to put their breakfast on plates.

There were two extra plates piled high with food sitting on the counter for Cas and Gabe, no eggs, of course. The familiars scarfed down their food quickly, fidgeting impatiently as the witches ate slower.

 _Calm down, Cas. Some of us have to chew our food, ya know._

 _Sorry, Dean, but we have stuff to do today._

 _What, exactly, do we have to do?_

 _Hunt down Lucifer, remember?_

Dean swallowed painfully and gave Cas a questioning look.

 _I thought we agreed to try to get the blood tonight._

 _Yeah, but it'll be hard to attack him if we don't know where he is. I was thinking that Gabe and I could follow him so that we're constantly aware of his whereabouts._

Dean chewed thoughtfully on a piece of toast while he considered Cas words.

 _He'd see you._

 _Not if you used the invisibility spell._

 _I don't know if it'll work if you guys aren't within a specific range of us._

 _Ask Sam, then._

Dean took a sip of his beer and turned his attention to Sam.

"Hey, Sammy?" Sam looked up from his book.

"Yeah?"

"Can we do an invisibility spell on someone who isn't here? Like, Cas said that it'd be easier to get the blood if they followed Lucifer today so they always knew where he was, and that an invisibility spell would prevent them from noticing them."

"Yeah, I see what you mean," Sam said. "I think I read somewhere that any spell will work as long as you have the blood of whoever you want to use the spell on."

Cas froze. They'd need blood for the spell. Gabriel looked at him in concern and scooted closer. Dean felt his discomfort and held out his hand for Cas to perch on.

 _What's the matter?_

 _I don't do needles. I had a… bad experience once._

He could feel Dean sifting through his memories, searching for the incident that Cas was referring to.

 _Wow, that must have been pretty painful._

 _It was, and ever since then I've been terrified of needles._

 _Well, I promise that you can trust me. I would never hurt you._

Cas could feel the truth in his words and let himself relax a little. Dean smiled.

 _Okay, if you guys are so set on doing this-_

 _We are._

 _-then let's get this done._

He took a last huge bite of pancake and stood up. He headed to the cabinet where Cas knew they kept the first-aid supplies and pulled out two sterile needles. Cas tried not to shiver and focused on counting Dean's freckles. Gabe hopped onto his arm as they passed and the three of them went to the bathroom.

Gabe went first, thankfully. He held out his wing and waited patiently while Dean filled the syringe with blood. When it was Cas' turn, Dean let him go through some of his memories to distract him. It worked, and Cas didn't even feel it as he was too busy watching a ten-year-old Sam try to cook breakfast.

"All done," Dean announced when he was finished. He labeled the two samples so that they wouldn't get mixed up and led the familiars downstairs to the basement where Sam had already prepared the alters needed to perform a blood spell. They prepared the pictures and set them on the altars, but didn't use the blood spell just yet.

Sam cast the oral spell over them and Cas felt the familiar tingling sensation cover him and knew the spell had worked. He let Dean see through Cas' eyes so that he knew where they were and fidgeted impatiently when Dean took too long walking up the stairs and opening the back door. It was only after he and Gabe had launched themselves into the sky that he remembered that he had no idea where to start looking.

 _He lives in an apartment on the corner of Fifty-fifth and Graham Street. Try there first, but be careful._

 _Thanks, Dean._

"Hey, Cassie," Gabriel screeched. "Sam told me where he lives, come on." Gabriel banked left and Cas followed. The two of them kept an intense look out for any sign of Lucifer as they headed towards his apartment building. When they finally found it, they perched right on top where they could see everyone who entered and exited the building.

"We should split up," Cas cawed. "You stay here and I'll look around."

"Okay," Gabe agreed. "But if you see him, tell Dean to tell Sam to tell me."

"You, too." Cas flapped his wings and took off from the building. He kept low, just barely above the treetops. He had no idea where Lucifer might be, so he just checked out all of the places around the apartment. He wasn't at any of the restaurants, stores or the park near his apartment, so Cas expanded his search zone. He was looping in ever-expanding circles around the apartment, trying to find any sign of the witch.

For two hours he searched, Dean's presence in his mind. He was heading back to the apartment to check in with Gabriel when he felt the oily feeling that meant the spell had worn off.

 _Dean, do the blood spell._

 _You're visible again?_

 _Yes, and tell Sam to do the same for Gabriel._

 _Alright, hold on. This may feel weird._

Cas landed in a tree to wait. A few moments later, he felt the tingling return, but it felt different. Instead of going over his feathers, it seemed to be coming from inside of him. He wiggled uncomfortably, but it didn't last long, thankfully.

 _Did it work?_

 _I think so. Thanks, Dean._

He returned to his flight and two minutes later, landed next to his brother.

"Anything?" Gabe asked.

"No," Cas replied. "I can't find him anywhere."

"And I've gone to almost all of the windows, but he isn't in any of the apartments."

"Where could he be?"

"I don't-" Gabe's sentence broke off and a second later Cas understood why. He felt a huge wave of panic from Dean, but it was quickly blocked as the witch slammed down a wall in his mind. "Something's wrong."

Cas' eyes hardened and he took off, followed closely by his brother. They flew as fast as they could, and Gabriel could fly pretty damn fast, back to the house.

 _Dean! Dean, answer me!_

Dean didn't reply and Cas' fear spiked. He flapped his wings harder and shot through the air. They went to the backyard, where the back door was always kept open. Gabriel didn't hesitate in ripping a hole in the screen door with his talons and flying inside, Cas hot on his tail. The familiars froze at the scene that greeted them.

Lucifer was battling with Sam and Dean, and he was winning. Sam was being held in place against the wall by Lucifer's magic and Dean was crouching behind the upturned sofa, shooting spell after spell at Lucifer. The older witch easily dodged them and shot a few of his own. They went wide, but Dean was grabbed by some invisible force and slammed into the wall next to Sam.

They both struggled fiercely, but Lucifer was stronger.

"Where are they?" he growled.

"We'll never tell you," Sam gasped, struggling to take in air from the intensity of Lucifer's hold.

"We'll see," Lucifer said softly. He made a fist and Sam choked, eyes wide as he struggled for breath. That was the last straw for Gabriel. He dived at Lucifer, raking his talons across the witch's face. Lucifer screamed in pain and released Sam and Dean.

The witches slumped to the floor and Cas flew over, landing on Dean's knee. He felt the Bond open up again and was bombarded by his witch's relief.

 _Cars?_

 _Yeah, it's me._

 _Is Gabriel here, too?_

Lucifer screamed again and a new set of claw marks raked themselves across his face.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled suddenly, and Cas could feel the power he pushed out through those words. The invisibility spell melted off and Cas froze. Lucifer grinned evilly. "Gotcha."

Gabriel flew over to Sam and landed on his arm, glaring daggers at the witch. The four of them watched him with suspicion, waiting for the next attack. He held up his hand and began to chant in Latin. Sam and Dean's eyes widened and then they, too, were chanting. It was a battle of magical strength, and the familiars could do nothing but watch helplessly.

"Sam, Dean!" a new voice called. A scruffy-looking man waltzed into the living room, face buried in a notebook that he was scribbling furiously in. "Hey, I need your help. What do you think-"

He looked up and noticed for the first time the damage done to the room and Lucifer standing there with his palm pointed towards the four of them. He was so out of place that all three of the witches stopped their spell-casting to stare at him.

"What the ever living fuck is going on here?" he asked calmly.

"Lucifer," Dean snarled, "put a spell on our familiars that trapped them in their animal forms and then he came here and attacked us."

"Is that true?" the man, who Cas assumed was a witch, asked Lucifer. Cas could feel the power in his words and his eyes widened a little. He was even more powerful than Lucifer. Speaking of, Lucifer was obviously trying hard to get out of the witch's magical grip, but couldn't.

"Yes," he ground out through clenched teeth.

"Then, fuck you, asshole," the witch said angrily. He muttered a few words under his breath and Lucifer's eyes rolled back in his head. He fell to the floor, unconscious. The witch then waved his hand through the air and reversed all of the damage Lucifer had done, including the spell on Cars and Gabriel.

Cas blinked in surprise when he found himself human again. He looked at Gabriel and gave him an ecstatic smile, which his brother returned, before his attention was once again grabbed by the man in the center of the room.

"Sorry about him," he said to Sam and Dean.

"Yeah, well, just deal with him," Dean said angrily.

"No, I was going to take him to the candy shop and reward his behaviour," the witch said sarcastically. "Of course I'm going to deal with him, ya idjits." He rolled his eyes and waved his hand again, and he and Lucifer were gone.

Dean gave a relieved sigh and turned to Cas with a huge smile on his face. He grabbed Cas in a hug and the familiar reveled in the fact that he could hug again.

"I'm glad that's over," Gabriel quipped. "I was starting to have candy withdrawal."

Cas snorted at his brother and leaned his head on Dean's shoulder, to the exact spot where his handprint rested.

"Who was that witch?" he asked. "Was he a member of the ruling coven?"

"Yeah, that was Bobby Singer," Sam answered. He sat down heavily on the couch, pulling Gabriel down with him. "The others are Chuck Shurley, Crowley McLeod and Ellen Harvelle."

"Why does the name 'Harvelle' sound so familiar?" Gabriel asked.

"That's because Ellen's daughter Jo was the waitress at the diner we went to a few days ago."

"Oh, right." A pause. "So, what do we do now?"

"I have no idea," Cas said. "It's not even three o'clock yet, but I'm exhausted from all the flying we did."

"Go to sleep, then. Me and Sam'll just hang here," Dean told him. Cas gave him a grateful smile and headed upstairs to his bedroom. He waited at the top of the stairs for Gabriel, waiting for the inevitable. Sure enough, when Gabe finally walked up the stairs, he was carrying an entire shopping bag full of candy.

"'Night, Cassie," he smirked as he walked by, taking a bite out of a Snickers bar. Cas chuckled.

"Goodnight, Gabe," he said as he went to his own room. He fell onto the bed, not even bothering to take off his trenchcoat or shoes. As he slipped into slumber, his last thought was of how glad he was that all of the craziness was finally over.

 **A/N This isn't the end.**


	7. Chapter 7

Gabriel fidgeted around in his seat, trying to get comfortable in the hard wooden chair he was sitting on. Cas shot him a glare and he stuck his tongue out, but sat still. Around him, the underground cavern was teeming with witches and familiars, twenty five of the former and ten of the latter, including Sam, Dean and their familiars.

The four members of the ruling coven were sitting behind a table in the front of the room, all of them looking incredibly somber. Sam, Dean, Gabe and Cas were sitting in the front row of the room. They were all waiting for Lucifer to arrive so that the trial could start, but Gabriel had never been known for his patience.

He sighed dramatically and Sam shot him a bitchface.

 _Sit still, you're making me nervous._

 _Sorry, but I can't help it. This chair is so uncomfortable._

 _Do you want to change and sit on my arm?_

 _No, thanks. I think I've spent more than enough time as a bird in the past few days._

Sam chuckled and Gabe allowed himself a small smile. He leaned his head on Sam's arm (he couldn't reach the shoulder) and closed his eyes, intent on at least getting some sleep if he couldn't do anything else.

He must have drifted off because the next thing he knew, Sam was shaking him awake. He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, looking around the room. It had gone incredibly quiet, the murmur from before dying down until you could hear a pin drop. Lucifer was being led down the aisle in between the two sections of seats by the huge guard from the witch bar.

Everyone watched in varying stages of disbelief as he passed, as if it was incredibly hard to believe that he was being held on trial for something. He smiled at Gabriel and Castiel as he passed them, a small smile that contrasted sharply to the hate in his eyes. And then he was sitting in a chair facing the coven and Gabriel didn't have to see the promise of revenge shining in his blue eyes.

Chuck Shurley, the head of the coven, stood up and gazed out over the crowd. The murmuring stopped instantly and he nodded, satisfied.

"Now begins the trial of the witch Lucifer Heylel*," he said. "He has been accused of the following crimes by witches Sam and Dean WInchester." All eyes turned to them and Gabriel stared back defiantly. "Attacking and attempting to kill the familiar Gabriel Novak, casting a spell on the familiars Gabriel and Castiel Novak that inhibited their transformations and attacking the witches Sam and Dean Winchester in an attempt to discern the location of their familiars in order to kill them."

By the time Chuck had finished talking, almost every witch and even some of the familiars were shouting in outrage. Chuck glared out over the crowd but no one paid him any attention. Bobby, Crowley and Ellen stood up, too, pushing their power out. The crowd fell silent and the trial continued, albeit with a much more tense air.

"Do you deny any of these claims?" Chuck asked Lucifer. The witch was sprawled lazily in his chair, looking almost bored.

"No," he answered. A huge gasp rippled through the crowd.

"You have also been accused by the familiar Raphael Israfil** of murdering at least nine Unbonded familiars," Chuck continued. "Do you deny these claims?"

"Nope," Lucifer said. There was no outburst this time. All the witches and familiars were silent, watching the trial with bated breath.

"Do you have anything to add in your defense?" Chuck asked. Lucifer shook his head. Chuck looked at the other coven members and they all shook their heads. "This has been an unusual trial," he announced to the room. "The accused hasn't denied any claims and therefore offered no evidence to disprove said claims. As such, we find you guilty of all accusations. Your sentence is execution by beheading and will be carried out at dawn."

No one moved as Lucifer was led out by the same huge witch that escorted him in. He had a lazy smirk on his face and held his head proudly. Those in the aisle seats cringed back as he passed, as if afraid of catching some disease. After he had left, the four members of the coven exited, also. Bobby winked at Sam and Dean and Ellen gave them a huge smile.

Almost as soon as they had left, the chatter started up again. Sam, Dean and their familiars slipped out before the witches and familiars could corner them with questions. Gabriel felt a wave of relief wash over him as they stepped out into the fresh air and made their way over to where the Impala was parked.

He and Sam slid into the backseat, Sam having to fold his legs up in order to fit comfortably.

"So," he said once Dean had pulled out of the parking lot, "I'm glad that's over."

"You and me, both," Dean said. "Dawn can't come soon enough for me."

"Dean, look at the damn road," Cas said exasperatedly. "I swear, one of these days you're going to crash."

"No, I won't," Dean answered cockily. "I'm too good of a driver to crash."

Gabriel scoffed a laugh. "Yeah, and besides, even if he does hit another car his inflated ego will be enough to protect his big head."

"Ha ha," Dean said sarcastically as Sam and Cas cracked up. "That was hilarious."

Gabriel chuckled and leaned his head against the car door. Sam grabbed his hand and rubbed small circles onto the back of it with his thumb. It was soothing, and Gabe once again found himself falling asleep.

He was woken up when the car stopped about twenty minutes later. He was too comfortable to move, so kept his eyes closed and tried to fall back asleep. He heard Sam chuckle and a moment later, the door opened and he was lifted out. He smiled and snuggled into Sam's chest, ignoring Dean's snickering as the witch carried him inside and up the stairs.

Sam placed him gently on a bed and pulled off his shoes, leaving his favorite jacket on. Gabe curled up on his side and smiled contentedly.

 _Thanks, Sammy._

 _No problem, Gabe. Why are you so tired?_

 _I didn't get much sleep last night._

 _Why? Are you okay?_

 _I'm fine, I just couldn't sleep._

 _Okay. Good night, Gabriel._

' _Night, Sam._

Sam turned off the light and closed the door quietly. Gabriel cracked open one eye and checked the time on the clock on the dresser. It was only 8, but he was exhausted. He sighed and closed his eyes again, drifting off into a deep sleep.

...oO()Oo…

Bright light shone directly on his face the next morning, forcing him to wake up. Gabriel scrunched up his face and turned over to escape the sunlight streaming in through a crack in the blinds. He wasn't prepared to come face to face with Sam. His brow furrowed in confusion. What was Sam doing in his bed? He looked around for the first time and noticed that _he_ was actually in _Sam's_ bed. Sam must have put him here last night instead of in his room. Whatever. Gabriel scooted down until he could rest his head comfortably on Sam's chest and closed his eyes again. He tried to fall back asleep, but found it harder than he thought.

The fact that Sam's heart was racing right in his ear wasn't helping matters either.

Sam," he mumbled. "I know you're awake."

He glanced up and saw Sam open his eyes. The witch smiled sheepishly down at him and Gabe smiled back.

"Um, good morning," Sam said awkwardly. Gabriel chuckled and closed his eyes again.

"Why'd you put me in your bed instead of mine last night?" he asked. Sam didn't reply and Gabe looked up again. Sam was blushing furiously and seemed to not know how to respond. "Sam?"

"Uh," he finally bit out. "My room was closer and you were really tired, and I didn't want to make you wait for a bed."

Gabriel raised his eyebrow. "Sam, my room is literally right next to yours. Three seconds was not gonna make a huge difference. Now tell me the truth."

Sam blushed even darker and shrugged. Gabriel smirked.

"Sammy," he said in a teasing tone, drawing out the name.

"Gabriel, do you want to go out sometime?" Sam blurted out, then winced. He flushed again and looked down at the sheets. "I mean, on a date?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes and snuggled into Sam's chest. "Sam, we're practically dating already, you dork."

"Uh, we are?" Gabriel nodded.

"Yup," he said. "I love you, you moose."

Sam wrapped around Gabriel's waist hesitantly. "I love you, too."

"Good. Now can we go back to sleep? It's way too early to be awake." Sam chuckled.

"Sorry," he said. "But we have stuff to do today and we need to get up."

Gabriel groaned and mumbled into his pillow, but let Sam drag him out of bed. He walked to his bathroom and started a shower, brushing his teeth while he waited for the water to warm up. He felt much more awake once he was clean and dressed in fresh clothes. He walked downstairs and rummaged through the fridge, looking for something to eat.

"Morning," Dean said when he and Cas came downstairs. Gabriel grunted in reply and poured himself a cup of coffee, adding a ton of milk and sugar to it. He pulled out a bottle of 5-Hour Energy from the pocket of his jacket and poured the whole thing into the coffee. Dean's eyebrows shot up when he chugged the whole mug. "What the fuck, man? Are you trying to kill yourself?"

Gabriel could already feel the energy coursing through his veins and gave Dean a shit-eating grin.

"I needed energy," he said, talking a little faster than normal. "I'm usually still asleep right now, and Sam said we have stuff to do today and I knew coffee alone wasn't gonna be enough so I figured that with the 5-Hour Energy it would last at least six hours and that should be plenty of time for us to do what we need to do and come home so I can crash on the couch or something 'cause I know that this energy crash is gonna be really bad and-"

"Enough!" Cas shouted, slamming his hand down on the table. Gabriel lapsed into silence and watched his brother with wide eyes. "It's bad enough when you're on a sugar high, I can't even imagine what you'll be like today."

Gabriel smirked and placed his mug in the sink. He wolfed down a bowl of cereal before running back upstairs to Sam's room. He found the witch brushing his teeth and snuck up behind him, throwing his arms around Sam's waist.

"Sam!" he cried. "What do we have to do today? Why are you taking so long to get ready? Have you heard from the ruling coven yet? Did they tell you anything about Lucifer's execution? Where are we going? Do we have to go to the store? Can we get ice-cream on the way? Are-"

"Gabriel!" Sam yelled, slapping his hand over the familiar's mouth. Gabriel crossed his eyes and stared at the hand, then did the most childish thing he could think of: he licked it. Sam drew back his hand as though it had been burned and wiped it down the front of his shirt in disgust. "Why are you so hyper?"

"I may or may not have poured a bottle of 5-Hour Energy into my coffee," Gabriel replied, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. Sam facepalmed passionately, watching the memory in Gabriel's mind.

"You're an idiot," he sighed.

"Yeah, but I'm your idiot," Gabriel said, throwing his hands around Sam's waist again and hugging him close. "Right?"

"Right."

Sam finished getting ready and went downstairs for breakfast. He ate agonizingly slowly, talking with Dean and Castiel all throughout breakfast. Gabriel fidgeted impatiently the whole time, absentmindedly playing with anything he could get his hands on. When they finally finished, he bounced out to the Impala and slid into the backseat with Cas.

"Where are we going?" he asked after about two minutes of driving.

"Ask Sam," was Dean's response. "In your head," he added Gabriel opened his mouth again. Gabriel stuck his tongue out at the back of Dean's head but complied.

 _Where are we going?_

Sam chuckled a bit before answering.

 _It's a surprise._

 _I hate surprises._

 _I know, I can read your memories, remember? But you'll like this surprise, I promise._

Gabriel poked around Sam's mind, trying to find any information on where they were going, but the witch had a firm hold on every memory starting from last night, and was singing to himself in his head to prevent himself from accidentally thinking about it.

Gabriel huffed and crossed his arms, pouting. He could hear every person in the car laugh when he did and it just made him pout harder. He couldn't sit still, though, from the energy buzzing through him. He fidgeted in the seat, alternating between jiggling his leg, humming to himself and tapping his hands on every available surface.

After an hour of driving, he was going insane, and so was everyone else. He was debating the pros and cons of opening the door and hanging out of a car doing eighty on the interstate when Dean announced that they had arrived. They pulled into a parking garage in the middle of nowhere and exited.

There was nothing but trees around them, bustling with life. Gabriel looked around with a smile on his face. He had always felt more at ease in a forest than in the city, like Cas. He supposed it had something to do with the natural habitats of their animal forms.

"So, what's the surprise?" Gabe asked.

"Wait and you'll find out," Sam teased, laughing when Gabriel frowned. He led the way into the woods, following a path beaten down into the ground by thousands of people before them. Gabriel couldn't help running ahead or off the path every time he heard an interesting noise or saw a tree he just _had_ to climb.

"Gabe!" Cas called as he ran off into the forest in pursuit of a strange-looking bird he had seen. The familiar just waved his hand and continued on. "Gabriel Richard Novak, if you don't get your butt over here this instant I swear to God I'm going to burn every piece of candy in the house when we get home.

Gabriel froze and slowly turned around, a glare fixed on his face.

"You wouldn't," he said, his voice low.

"Wouldn't I?" Cas retorted. Dean smirked and Gabriel crossed his eyes at him. "Why are you such a child?"

"Because being a child is fun," Gabriel answered. "Hey, is my heart supposed to be beating this fast?" He stopped and pressed a hand to his chest. His heart was pounding painfully in his chest and he was panting hard. "And I'm feeling super anxious. Maybe I shouldn't have mixed a caffeine shot into my coffee."

Sam rolled his eyes and Dean snorted.

"Ya think?" Dean asked sarcastically. "I swear, Gabriel, you act like a child and sometimes you think like one, too. That has to be the stupidest, bravest thing I've ever seen in my life."

Gabriel winked at him. "You know it, Hotshot."

"Alright, we're here!" Sam announced, cutting off whatever reply Dean was going to make. Gabriel looked around at the clearing they had stepped into. It was huge and lit up with sunlight, but the most prominent feature was the pond in the middle. The water was clear and sparkling with reflected light from the sun, but there was another figure standing by the edge.

Gabriel frowned and looked closer. That guy looked a lot like… but that was impossible, he was dead.

"Oh, I assure you that I am very much alive, Gabriel," the witch said, his voice carrying over the sound of nature all around them. Gabriel's blood turned to ice and his already racing heart beat even faster as fear spiked through him. There was a gasp from Castiel and Dean cursed as the man turned around, letting the small group by the edge of the clearing see his face. "Miss me?" Lucifer taunted. Gabriel scowled.

"I hate surprises."

 ***Heylel is another name for Lucifer.**

 ****Israfil is the name for the archangel Raphael in Muslim culture.**

 **Guys, I just finished reading Twist and Shout. It was really cute, but I was expecting it to be super heart-wrenching. I swear, with the reviews I've heard, I was expecting to break down sobbing in the middle of the story, but I didn't even feel sad, which is really weird cuz I'm a super emotional person.**


	8. Chapter 8

Castiel drew closer to Dean as Lucifer sauntered over to them with a smirk on his face. He stopped directly in front of Gabriel and leaned down, directly into the familiar's face. Gabe's eyes were wide and he was trembling, but Cas was pretty sure that was from all of the caffeine he had ingested that morning.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Gabriel," Lucifer purred. "After all, I'm not done with you yet. You will pay for your insolence." He stepped back and Cas saw for the first time the freshly healed scars running across his face from where Gabe had attacked him in his eagle form. "I'll make you all pay. But not here, and not yet. I've got plans for you four."

He chuckled then, a low, dark sound that reverberated around the clearing like some herald of death. Lucifer turned and walked away, into the forest, and none of them moved until they were sure he was gone.

"We are so screwed," Gabriel said.

"No, we're not," Sam replied. "Don't be so pessimistic. We just have to go to the coven, I'm sure they can catch him and actually kill him this time."

"We thought they had killed him last time," Cas pointed out, "and he still managed to escape and find us."

"Come on, Cas," Dean said, walking back in the direction of the parking garage. "I thought you were a glass half full kinda guy."

"I'm also realistic," Cas said, following Dean.

"Awesome, Cassie's boarding the pessimism train!" Gabriel shouted gleefully. "Choo choo, motherfuckers!" He dashed up the path, cackling madly.

"He is not allowed to have any more coffee ever again," Sam said, watching Gabe go. Cas nodded in agreement. "We still have to go to the coven, though. They should be able to do something."

"I hope so," Dean muttered. "We can't live with the threat of Lucifer constantly hanging over our heads."

They walked back to the garage in silence, the only noises being the sounds of the forest around them and Gabriel crashing through the undergrowth ahead of them. When they finally made it back to the Impala they all piled in, Sam sitting in the front this time since his legs got too cramped in the back.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number, putting the phone on speaker so that everyone could hear. After three rings, someone finally picked up.

"What?" a gruff voice answered.

"Hey, Bobby," Sam said.

"What do you guys want?"

"We just want to know what happened with Lucifer this morning."

The line went quiet and they could hear a muffled curse come through.

"Why are you asking?" Bobby asked suspiciously.

"Because that dipwad showed up to a forest almost an hour outside of the city, scared the crap out of all four of us and then disappeared," Gabriel said, interrupting whatever Sam had been about to say. "So unless that was some jerk's idea of a prank, you fucked up and need to get your asses in gear to help us catch the lunatic you let escape."

There was silence, both in the car and from Bobby's end. Cas was staring at Gabe with a mix of awe and anger.

"Who the hell are you?" Bobby asked indignantly.

"Gabriel," Gabe answered. "I'm Sam's familiar. And no, I'm not usually this rude. But right now I'm hopped up on a ton of caffeine and my brain/mouth filter got turned off, so I'm sorry if I've offended you, but it's the truth."

"Okay," Dean said after another awkward pause. "Anyway, Bobby, we really need the coven to get on top of this whole Lucifer thing, 'cause he's planning something and I really don't want to find out what it is."

"I do!" Gabriel exclaimed, raising his hand like he was in a classroom.

"Yeah, we've been trying to track him for a while now, but he's got a spell over himself that cloaks his magic signature."

"He used magic to block out his magic?"

"I know, it sounded ridiculous to me, too. But there's not much we can do until he rears his ugly mug again. Sorry, boys, but if you'd like, I can send a guard or something over to your place."

Gabriel shook his head insistently, but Sam ignored him. "That'd be great, Bobby, thanks," he said, glaring at Gabriel.

"Alright, give me a call if he pops up again."

"We will. Talk to you later, Bobby."

"Watch out for each other."

"We always do," Dean answered, and Sam hung up the phone. Gabriel crossed his arms and scrunched up his nose.

"Why do we need a guard?" he asked petulantly.

"Because three witches will have a better chance of overpowering Lucifer than two," Dean said, looking back at Gabe.

"Dean, look at the fucking road!" Cas groaned.

 _Sorry, I keep forgetting._

 _How do you forget to look at the road while driving?_

 _I don't know, I'm just special like that._

 _You certainly are some type of special._

Dean's laughter filled his mind and he grinned, but it quickly faded when he remembered the situation they were in. Suddenly, Gabriel's earlier comment was sounding a lot more like the truth.

 _We are so screwed._

...oO()Oo…

It took them three hours to get home, thanks to rush hour traffic. It was dark when they finally pulled into the driveway. Gabriel leaned heavily on Cas, the energy from his spiked coffee having worn off a while ago. They stumbled into the house and Cas dropped his brother onto the sofa. Gabe's eyes closed, then shot open not even a full second later. He looked around wildly, then up at Cas.

"Smell," he ordered. Cas accessed the animal part of him and took a deep breath, almost choking on the scent of two new people all over everything in the house. He could distinctly smell the magic in both of the scents, but one also smelled like… cat?

"Witch and familiar," he whispered, and Gabriel nodded. The two of them silently padded over to the base of the stairs. Cas could hear Sam and Dean in one of the bedrooms, talking to each other about the Lucifer situation. They hadn't noticed anything amiss, but they didn't have the familiars' enhanced senses.

Cas cocked his head to the side and listened intently. The whole house was silent, but after a while he began to hear noises. A creak in the basement stairs, the rattle of the window in the kitchen, a soft breath coming from directly behind him…

His eyes widened and he spun around, barely aware of Gabriel doing the same thing. His hands slammed into something solid, though there was nothing there, and he pushed whatever it was into the wall. A gasp came from whoever Cas was pinning, and he heard the Sam and Dean race downstairs, alarmed by the noise.

"What the hell?" Dean asked, seeing Cas and Gabe apparently holding onto nothing. The air in front of Gabriel rippled and a woman materialized in front of him. She smirked at him and he narrowed his eyes.

"Is this any way to treat your new guards?" asked a new voice with a slight southern drawl, and Cas looked over to at the woman Gabriel was pinning.

"Pamela?" Sam asked, flicking on a light and coming closer. "What the hell are you doing in our house?" Gabriel released the woman and after a moment, Cas released the one he was holding.

"Isn't it obvious?" Pamela asked. "I literally just told you. We're your guards, here to help in case Lucifer comes after you. Bobby sent us, said you'd know we were coming over."

Dean sighed and ran a face over his hand. "And you and your familiar had to sneak in here, why?"

"To see your reactions, of course," the unfamiliar familiar said. Her voice was sarcastic, her face even more so. "But that plan was dashed to pieces by these two fine feathered folks."

"Meg, be nice," Pamela said and turned back to Sam. "It was incredibly impressive, what your familiars did. There's not many people who can catch us if we don't want to be caught."

"Riiiiight," Gabriel said. "Well, if no one's dying, I think I'm going to bed." As he walked past Pamela, her hand shot out and slapped him in the butt, making him jump at least a foot in the air.

"Good night, sweet cheeks," she said, winking at him. Gabriel blushed a light pink, chuckling nervously and Cas stared, mouth dropping open a little. Never in his life had Cas seen Gabe so flustered, especially not from flirting.

"Pamela, stop molesting my familiar," Sam growled playfully, though Cas thought he detected just a hint of jealousy in his tone, too. Interesting.

"I'm just kiddin'," Pamela chuckled. Sam rolled his eyes and went upstairs with Gabriel.  
"So, boys, let's get this party started. Meg, get the snacks, I'll find some music. You two," she said, pointing at Dean and Cas, "go get a game or something." Meg slunk off to the kitchen and started rummaging through the fridge while Pamela walked over to Dean's extensive classic rock collection and started looking through the CDs.

Dean raised his eyebrows at Cas.

 _Wanna stay down here? Pamela and Meg make everything a ton more… interesting._

 _Sure. It's not like I was going to go to bed anyway._

Cas went and plopped down on the couch while Dean grabbed Monopoly from the stack of games in the hall closet. One hour later, they were all focused intently on the game, sipping beers and munching on popcorn.

"Oh, come on!" Dean shouted as Cas put yet another hotel on one of his properties. "How do you even have that much money?"

Cas shrugged, grinning. The more houses and hotels Cas put down, the more irritated Dean became. He loved irritating Dean almost as much as he loved winning.

"Well, Clarence," Meg drawled, using the nickname she had given Cas. "It seems you'll be winning this game, if it ends anytime soon."

"Maybe," Cas answered, though he knew she was right. "We've only just started, any of you could-" He broke off and sat up, the hair on the back of his neck sitting up. He let his animal senses out and listened intently. His eyes widened and he looked at Meg. She looked back at him with the same expression he wore.

The two of them scrambled to their feet and ran to the window by the front door. Cas could faintly see the orange glow of flames licking at the side of the house and the smell of smoke was even stronger.

"Fuck!" he shouted, running to the door and wrenching it open. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck!" He grabbed the hose and turned it on, aiming it at the base of the fire. The flames just jumped higher, scorching the shingles. It was a magical fire, being controlled by a witch. "Shit!" He looked around and saw Meg leading a sleepy looking Sam and Gabriel out of the house, followed closely by a panicked Dean and Pamela.

The two alert witches ran over and used their magic to cut off the air around the fire, smothering the flames. Cas abandoned the hose and ran to Meg and Gabriel.

"We have to find Lucifer," he said. "I'll bet he was the one controlling that fire and that means he's still around here somewhere." They both nodded, Gabriel looking more awake. He and Cas transformed into their animal forms and Meg turned into a sleek black cat. She streaked into the night as Gabe and Cas took to the skies.

It was hard to see with all of the smoke in the sir, but he could make out the forms of the concerned neighbors and hear the sirens from the approaching ambulance. He flew in a tight circle around the house, knowing that Lucifer would have to keep visual contact in order to control the fire.

He was just about ready to give up when he heard a fierce yowl coming from below him. He looked down and saw a cat attacking a man in an alley. He tucked his wings into his sides and dive bombed, the way he had seen Gabriel do a few days ago. Just before he hit Lucifer, he spread out his wings and extended his feet.

Talons scored across his face, adding to the scratches left by Meg's claws. Lucifer growled in anger and swung his hand wildly at Cas. The familiar easily dodged it and continued his attack on Lucifer's face while Meg shredded his legs.

 _Cas, where are you?_

 _I don't know, in some alley._

He dodged another punch and raked his talons across the forearm.

 _What are you doing in an alley?_

 _Attacking Lucifer, what else?_

 _You found him?! Okay, hold on, I'm coming to you._

Cas was too late to avoid the next swing and was flung back into the brick wall. He was human when he slid to the floor, but he was just as disoriented as his bird form had been. Meg stood in front of him, teeth bared and fur standing on end. Lucifer sneered at her in contempt before looking back at Cas.

"This isn't over, Castiel," he proclaimed. "This was merely a taste of what's to come."

He waved his hand and disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a few splatters of blood on the ground. Meg changed into his human form and helped him up, glaring at the spot where Lucifer had been not a few seconds before.

"That guy has some serious flaws," she said. Castiel scoffed in response. There was no blood on his head, but he was pretty sure he had at least a concussion. Leaning heavily on Meg, he started walking back towards the house. Dean met him halfway there, panting and bedraggled but unhurt.

"Cas," he gasped. "Are you...okay?" He pulled Cas' other arm over his shoulders and began walking again.

"I'm fine, Dean," Cas said. "Just a concussion, maybe."

"We'll get that healed up as soon as we get back home."

By the time they made it back to the house, there were firemen nosy neighbors everywhere. The three of them ducked beneath the police tape and walked inside where they found a worried Sam and Pamela convincing a fireman that everything was fine.

"Alright, fine," he said. "If you're sure that this was an accident."

"Completely sure," Sam answered with conviction.

"Then I guess there's nothing more we can do here." He motioned to the others and they all left. Gabriel didn't come back until after all of the people outside had gone back to their homes. He came through the back door in his human form, worry on his face but excitement in his eyes. His eyes landed immediately on Cars, who was sitting on the counter while Dean prepared the healing spell.

"Are you okay?" he asked, brow furrowed in concern.

"I'm fine, just a concussion," Cas answered. Dean said the chant and dropped the match into the bowl, the flames leaping up and looking nothing like the ones eating at the house earlier.

"Well, you guys'll never guess what I found out," Gabriel continued in excitement. "While I was out looking for Lucifer, I found this familiar named Ash, ya know, Ellen's familiar? Well, he told me that he heard Ellen talking about this witch named Michael who lives upstate."

"What about him?" Dean asked, irritated.

"Michael is Lucifer's brother, the only one dear old Luci was ever afraid of. Michael's even more powerful than Lucifer is, and he's been looking for him for a while."

"Why?" Pamela asked from her seat at the table.

"Lucifer killed their dad a while ago and then moved here, and Michael's been looking for him ever since to get revenge."

"What good does that do us?" Dean asked. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"You people, I swear," he muttered. "I already called Michael, and he's on his way here now. He said he should be here tomorrow morning. He'll get rid of Lucifer for us."

Sam's mouth dropped open and then he grinned.

"Gabriel, you're a genius!"

"Oh, my God, no, I'm not," Gabriel groaned. "Calling Michael was the most obvious thing in the world, you're just a dumbbutt."

Gabriel laughed when Sam threw his arms around him and even Dean, Pamela and Meg looked a lot more excited than they were before. Dean beamed at Cas and Cas grinned back.

 _We finally have a way to get rid of this nut job._

 _Yeah, I hope that Michael really is as powerful as Gabriel said he is._

 _I'm sure he will be, Cas. I'm sure he will be._


	9. Chapter 9

Gabriel heard him long before anyone else did. He had let the animal part of his brain take over his senses before he fell asleep in case Lucifer tried anything else, so he woke up as soon as the footsteps registered in his sleepy brain. He groaned softly and pulled himself out of Sam's bed. He shuffled into his room and pulled on a pair of jeans and a new t-shirt before walking silently downstairs.

Pamela was still asleep on the couch, Meg curled up on her stomach. The cat lifted her head as he passed and he gave her a small smile. She ignored him and went back to sleep. Rude. He peered out of the window before he opened the door to make sure that it wasn't Lucifer, then opened the door wide and stared bleary-eyed at the man standing in front of the door with his finger poised above the doorbell.

"Are you Michael?" Gabriel asked in a bored tone; it was way too early to be awake. The witch nodded. "Awesome." He stepped aside and allowed Michael to enter. His blue eyes scanned critically over everything in the room, finally coming to a rest on Gabriel.

"Where is everyone else?" he asked.

"Sleeping," Gabriel replied, heading towards the kitchen. He reached into one of his jars and pulled out a lollipop, which he unwrapped and gave a lick as he studied Michael. "Hold on, I'll wake my witch."

 _Sam, get your moose ass out of bed._

 _Gabe, what the hell? Why'd you wake me up?_

 _Michael's here._

 _He's here?! How do you know?_

 _Because he's sitting at the table eating an apple._

 _Okay, I'll be right there. Wake up Pam and Meg._

 _Roger that, Captain._

"Sit tight, I'll be right back," he said to Michael. The witch gave a curt nod to show that he heard and Gabriel walked into the living room. "Hey, Meg, wake up. Michael's here."

"I know," said a sarcastic voice behind him and he turned to see Meg leaning against the wall. "I heard him come in. Pamela's already awake."

Gabriel's reply was cut off as Sam, Dean and Cas stomped down the stairs, Sam heading immediately for Gabriel while the other two headed for the kitchen.

"Morning, Meg," Sam greeted, throwing an arm around Gabriel's waist.

"Hiya, Sammy-boy," she gave him a quick smirk and headed into the kitchen, Sam and Gabriel following. Pamela was already there, sitting next to Michael while Dean and Cas leaned against the counter.

"Alright," Dean said. "Now that we're all here, let's get down to business."

"Eager, are we?" Michael asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Damn right I'm eager. Your brother is a dick, and we want him gone. Think you can handle that?"

 _Your brother's gonna get his ass fried by Michael if he keeps that up._

 _Yeah, I know, but it's not like we can just turn off his snarkiness._

 _I'm sure we can find a spell for that._

 _Gabriel, pay attention and stop distracting me._

"I'm more than capable of subduing my brother," Michael said coolly. "Just get me the ingredients I'll need for a locating spell, and I'll handle the rest."

Dean turned to Cas. "Can you go get the stuff he needs?" Cas nodded and headed to the basement, brushing his shoulder against Gabriel's as he passed.

"My brother is a very powerful witch," Michael said, tossing his apple core into the trash can. "When we locate him, he'll probably be able to sense me coming if I just head straight for him."

"So, what can we do?" Sam asked.

"Someone with a weak or nonexistent magic signature should be able to sneak up on him and distract him long enough for me to get there and engage him."

"Who did you have in mind?" Sam's voice was suspicious, and his grip on Gabriel tightened a little.

"The familiars," Michael said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No way!" Sam shouted at the same time Dean said "Screw that!" and Pamela yelled "Are you nuts?"

"We won't send our familiars to be Lucifer bait," Dean spat angrily at Michael. Cas chose that moment to come up the stairs with his arms laden with supplies, and he looked at Gabriel in confusion.

"Michael wants to send us and Meg to distract Lucifer so he can sneak up on him," Gabriel explained.

"And the witches are angry?" Cas asked.

"Duh."

"Unless you want Lucifer to get away again, this is the only way," Michael said. "Besides, it's not your choice. Your familiars are the ones going, so they get to decide whether or not they want to help."

"Even if they say yes, do you think we'll just let them go on such a suicidal mission?" Pamela asked, eyes flashing with anger.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Meg drawled.

"No!" all three witches shouted together.

 _Sam, don't be such an overprotective parent._

 _Gabe, remember what happened last time we let you and Cas go after Lucifer._

 _Yeah, he showed up here and attacked you guys instead._

 _He attacked us to find out where you and Cas were. He wants to kill you, so I'm not just going to let you waltz right into whatever hole he's living in._

 _But if we don't do this, we might not ever get another chance to take him out, and then where would we be? Spending the rest of our lives living in fear of Lucifer attacking us, and that's not how I wanna spend the rest of my days._

 _Yeah, I guess you're right._

 _Of course I am, I'm always right about everything._

 _Whatever, Gabe. Just promise me that if it gets too dangerous you'll get out of there._

 _I promise._

Gabe looked around the kitchen and saw the other two familiars staring angrily at their witches, having the same conversation that Sam and Gabriel had just had. Michael had already set up the locating spell. He threw the match onto a map of the city, watching intently as the paper crumbled into ash, leaving only the name of a small park a few miles away from the house.

Meg finally looked away from Pamela with a smug look on her face, the witch looking angry but resigned. Dean took the most convincing, but eventually he agreed to let Cas go.

"Excellent," Michael said. "Now, he's somewhere in this park. Let your witches know immediately when you find him, alright?" The three of them nodded and Michael gave them a tight smile, the expression looking out of place on his stoic face. "Then go."

"Hey, let's call ourselves the fellowship of the familiars," Gabriel said right before they transformed.

"No," Cas and Meg said together. They transformed and left, Cas taking to the sky and Meg running along fences. Gabriel pouted.

"Killjoys," he muttered. Then he, too, transformed and took off, not needing to try very hard to catch up to his brother. Cas brushed their wings together in greeting then returned his attention to the ground. Gabriel could see the park where Lucifer was coming up ahead. He put on a burst of speed and got there first, landing in a tree to wait for the other two.

Cas landed next to him and Meg eventually scrambled up the trunk as well.

"Okay, you guys," Gabriel screeched. "If this is going to work, he has to be completely focused on us."

"We know, bird brain," Meg growled.

"Fine, hairball," Gabriel retorted. "Get to it." He waited until Meg and Cas had gone before throwing himself out of the tree and taking to the skies. He knew his brother would be flying low, so he soared high enough to see most of the park at once. His golden eyes scanned the ground below him, searching for any sign of Lucifer.

He saw the occasional jogger, but other than that there was no one else out.

 _Any luck so far?_

 _Nope. If it weren't for the locating spell that Michael did, I'd be pretty sure that Lucifer wasn't even in the park. Oh, nevermind, there he is._

 _You see him?_

 _Yeah, he's on the swings. He's not exactly hiding._

 _Be careful._

 _Aren't I always?_

 _That's not reassuring, Gabe._

Gabriel tucked his wings in and dived, heading straight for Lucifer. At the last second, he opened his wings and extended his talons, aiming them right at Lucifer's already scarred face. Only, his talons went right through Lucifer as if he wasn't there at all. Before Gabriel could even land, something heavy slammed into him and pushed him roughly to the ground.

He looked up and saw Lucifer, the real one, standing over him with a smirk on his face. Something pushed into his mind, into the space that Sam usually occupied, and blocked off his Bond. He closed his eyes at a sudden pain and when he opened them again, he was human.

"Hello, Gabriel," Lucifer sneered, and Gabriel felt a fierce satisfaction at the scars on his face, scars that he put there.

"Hiya, Luci," he smirked. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Indeed," Lucifer mused. "I was expecting your master and his brother. They've really got to stop sending familiars to attack me, they should know by now that it won't work out."

"Yeah, well, what are you gonna do?" Gabriel shrugged, wincing at the woodchips digging into his back. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"No," Lucifer said, looking around the playground like he was expecting something else to pop up and attack him.

"Thanks. You see, I've been wondering. All we did was expose your crimes to the general witch public, is all this quote unquote revenge really worth it?"

"Didn't I just say no?" Lucifer looked back down at Gabriel, an expression of annoyance on his features. Good, annoyance is distracting.

"It's rude to answer a question with a question," Gabriel pointed out.

"It's rude to ask a question after being told not to."

"It's rude to try to kill familiars just because you're a buttface."

"Well, it's rude to- wait, did you just call me a buttface? Is that really the best insult you could come up with?"

"No, but I just really wanted to point out that with all of the lines running across your face, I can't tell the difference between your scars and your butt crack."

Lucifer's face turned a little red and Gabriel mentally cheered. Anger is even more distracting than annoyance.

"You are more trouble than you're worth," Lucifer hissed. "I can't imagine why your witch or your brother puts up with you."

Gabriel rolled his eye. "Because I'm the leader of the fellowship of the familiars, duh."

Lucifer's anger was replaced by confusion and Gabriel started to worry a little.

 _Come on, Michael. Hurry up! How distracted does he have to be?_

Lucifer jerked back and Gabriel felt his magical hold disappear. Instantly, he scrambled backwards, getting to his feet and changing to his animal form. He flew up into the air and looked down at what had distracted Lucifer.

He could see Lucifer on the ground, writhing in pain, and standing above him was Michael.

 _It's about time!_

 _Gabriel! Are you okay? What happened? The Bond closed up._

 _I'm fine, Samsquatch. It was just Lucifer being Lucifer. He blocked the Bond somehow._

 _Where's Cas and Meg?_

 _I don't know, I haven't seen them for a while._

 _Okay, Dean, Pam and I are on our way, just hold tight._

' _Kay._

From his vantage point in the air, Gabriel could see everything that was going on. Lucifer managed to throw Michael back, cutting off whatever spell he was using.

"What are you doing here?" Lucifer snarled, Gabriel's raptor hearing allowing him to hear what was being said.

"I've come to finish what Father started," Michael replied. Lucifer scoffed and flung out his hand. A bright blue ball of energy flew out of his hand, but Michael merely flicked his hand and it fizzled out.

"Father was a fool," Lucifer sneered. He threw three more energy balls at Michael, but the older witch didn't even flinched. He held up his hand and the orbs floated in the air in front of him, and with another flick they had doubled in speed and thrown themselves at Lucifer. He wasn't fast enough to dodge and ended up getting slammed back by all three energy balls.

The front of his short was completely burned away, revealing blistering red skin that was slowly oozing blood. Lucifer hissed in pain and hauled himself to his feet. He tried to attack again but Michael was relentless. Lucifer was thrown back against a tree and Michael stalked forward, face cold and expressionless.

He held up his hand and it started to glow white. As the glow intensified, so did Lucifer's struggles. Michael gazed at his brother, finally showing just a hint of regret.

"I'm sorry, brother," he said. "But you made me do this."

Michael took his hand and slammed it down onto Lucifer's forehead. The witch's eyes and mouth lit up with the same white light as Michael's hand as he threw his head back and screamed in pain. There was a small explosion and the sound of glass shattering, and then Lucifer's lifeless body fell limply to the ground.

Michael spared one last glance at his brother before snapping his fingers and disappearing. Gabriel flew down to the ground and landed next to the dead witch. He shed his feathers and stood staring at Lucifer with his mouth slightly open.

 _Gabriel, what happened?_

 _Lucifer's dead. Michael killed him._

 _Well, that's why we called him._

 _Yeah, but you didn't see the fight, Sam. Compared to Michael, Lucifer was practically powerless._

 _Are you still in the park?_

 _Yeah, where are you?_

 _At the start of the trail the joggers use. We found Cas and Meg in a Familiar's Trap._

 _A what?_

 _A Familiar's Trap. You know how a Devil's Trap can trap demons? A Familiar's Trap can to the same to familiars._

 _Sounds boring. Alright, I'm coming to you._

He turned back into an eagle and took off, a little tricky since he was on flat ground. It took him less than a minute to fly to where Sam and the others were. He transformed before he landed and fell the last few feet to the ground, landing in a crouch next to Sam. The witch pulled him into a one-armed hug when he straightened up.

"So, the wicked witch is dead?" Meg asked, leaning into Pamela.

"Yup," Gabriel said, popping the 'p'. "Luci's dead, Mikey's gone and all is right with the world."

"I hope that bitch stays dead this time," Dean growled. Cas put his arms around Dean's waist and Dean wrapped one of his arms around Cas' shoulders.

"I'm sure he's really dead," Sam said. "Michael wouldn't have left otherwise."

"Michael did say something weird, though," Gabriel said. "Right before he iced Lucifer, he told him that he came to finish what their father started."

"I thought their father was dead," Pamela said.

"That's what Ash told me."

"Huh. I'm sure it's nothing, Sweet Cheeks."

Gabriel felt his face heat up a little at the nickname and he pressed his face farther into Sam's jacket. Everyone laughed at his expression and he stuck out his tongue, face returning to it's natural hue.

"Can we go, now?" Cas asked. "When Lucifer's body is discovered and the police are called, I don't want to be here."

"Good point, Cassie." Gabriel turned on his heel, heading to where he had seen the Impala parked on the curb. The others followed behind him, but Sam caught up to him easily with his longer legs.

 _I'm so glad that's over._

Sam took his hand and intertwined their fingers.

 _Me, too. The whole constantly in danger of dying thing was getting old. It was even worse because Lucifer was basically just a brat throwing a temper tantrum, according to what I gathered from Michael._

Sam chuckled and Gabriel's mouth stretched into a smile, as it always did when he managed to make Sam laugh.

"You are going to make my life very sarcastic, aren't you?"

"Oh, definitely."

Sam just grinned again and squeezed Gabriel's hand as the two of them got into the backseat of Dean's car, and they stayed like that the whole ride home.

 **Finally done! This story gave me a lot of trouble for some reason. But anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be working on two new multi-chapter fics, but I won't be posting until I have most of the chapters written.**

 **One will be an Avengers fic, and the other will be Rise of the Guardians. Don't expect the the first chapter of either one (I haven't decided which one I wanted to do first) for at least two or three weeks, maybe more.**

 **Until then, I'll be posting a series of one-shots for a few of my favorite fandoms that I'm calling the Nighttime Terror Series. The title is pretty self-explanatory, and as of right now, there'll be five of them, though I may post more as I come up with them.**

 **Thanks so much, guys! Keep a look out for my stories, called** **Nighttime Terrors Series, Mother Nature and the Generals** **(Rise of the Guardians) and** **The Avengers save Loki and the World** **(Avengers, obvi).**


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